Transcriptome of dorsal root ganglia caudal to a spinal cord injury with modulated behavioral activity

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating clinical condition resulting in significant disabilities for affected individuals. Apart from local injury within the spinal cord, SCI patients develop a myriad of complications characterized by multi-organ dysfunction. Some of the dysfunctions are directly related to the disrupted integrity of sensory afferents from DRGs, which signal to both the spinal cord and peripheral organs. Some classes of DRG neurons undergo axonal sprouting both peripherally and centrally after spinal cord injury. Such physiological and anatomical re-organization of afferent axons after SCI contributes to both adaptive and maladaptive plasticity, which may be modulated by activity/exercise. In this study, we collected comprehensive gene expression data in whole dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) throughout the levels below the injury comparing the effects of SCI with and without activity/exercise.脊髓损伤（Spinal cord injury, SCI）是一类可导致患者出现严重残疾的毁灭性临床病症。除脊髓局部损伤外，脊髓损伤患者还会并发多种以多器官功能障碍为特征的并发症。部分功能障碍与背根神经节（dorsal root ganglia, DRGs）的传入感觉纤维完整性受损直接相关——此类纤维可向脊髓及外周器官传递神经信号。脊髓损伤后，部分亚型的背根神经节神经元会在外周与中枢区域同时出现轴突出芽。脊髓损伤后传入轴突的此类生理与解剖结构重构，既参与适应性可塑性过程，也参与适应不良性可塑性过程，而该过程可被活动/运动干预所调节。本研究采集了损伤节段以下全段背根神经节的全面基因表达数据，对比了单纯脊髓损伤与联合活动/运动干预的效应差异。