RNA-seq analysis of Chondroitinase ABC promoting locomotor functional recovery after spinal cord injury through GABA interneurons

Neurological functional repair is the emphases and difficulties of spinal cord injury (SCI). Numerous studies have revealed that Chondroitinase ABC (Ch ABC) is effective in improving neurological functions after SCI, but its mechanism have not been completely clarified due to complex and diverse. Therefore, the development of biochemical mechanism for analyzing its efficacy can provide some ideas for the clinical treatment strategies of post SCI. At present, RNA-sequencing was performed to identify altered gene expression of the injured spinal cord tissue between sham operation, model and Ch ABC intervention. Further Gene Ontology analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis, Gene set Enrichment Analysis and Key Driver analysis. Here, we identified some differential genes and pathways. In particular, various neuronal synaptic pathways play essential roles in SCI under the treatment of Ch ABC. Among these, the GABA synaptic pathway were the most significant. Through a series of qPCR verification, we confirmed this hypothesis. Therefore, we thought that GABA neurons may play a pivotal role in the repair of SCI, and GABAAR may become a potential target for the treatment of SCI in the future.