Alteration of Etaª²1 expression in spinal motoneuron resulting from spinal root avulsion

    FU Yongª²Hui, SHEN Tao, FU Qin, L Gang, WANG Haiª²Yi

    1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Second Clinical College, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110004, China, 2Department of Orthopedic Surgery, First Clinical College, Shenyang, 110001, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To explore the alteration of Etaª²1 expression in motoneurons following spinal root avulsion and its significance. METHODS: Animal model of spinal root avulsion was established and immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization were employed to investigate whether spinal root avulsion will alter the levels of Etaª²1 expression in the spinal motoneurons. RESULTS: A low level of Etaª²1 was found in a subset of spinal motoneurons before avulsion but 3 d after avulsion, the number of Etaª²1ª²expressing motoneurons increased by 52.5%, though the total number of motoneurons reduced by 31.6%. CONCLUSION: Etaª²1 is unregulated in spinal motoneurons after spinal root avulsion and it may have some protective effect on motoneurons. ......