Changes in mRNA in the dorsal root ganglion after stroke and subcutaneous neurotrophin-3 infusion in elderly rats

Brain and spinal injury often impair sensorimotor processing in the spinal cord and reduce mobility. Cortical stroke in rats leads to long-term deficits in dexterity and walking. Subcutaneous neurotrophin-3 infusion initiated at a clinically-feasible time-point after injury improved walking and dexterity. We discovered that Neurotrophin-3 is transported in sensory afferents from muscles to the dorsal root ganglia. Using genome-wide RNA sequencing of the whole cervical level 6-8 dorsal root ganglia, we sought gene changes in afferent neurons that were present at two timepoints after stroke.脑与脊髓损伤常损害脊髓内的感觉运动加工过程，并导致运动能力下降。大鼠皮层卒中可引发肢体灵活性与行走能力的长期缺损。在损伤后临床可行的时间点启动皮下输注神经营养因子-3（neurotrophin-3），可改善大鼠的行走能力与肢体灵活性。本研究发现，神经营养因子-3可经感觉传入神经从肌肉转运至背根神经节（dorsal root ganglia）。我们通过对颈6-8节段全段背根神经节开展全基因组RNA测序，旨在探究卒中后两个时间点内传入神经元的基因表达变化。