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. Overall design: RNA-Seq was performed on whole C6-8 dorsal root ganglia of rats from three different groups: naïve rats, rats after unilateral cortical stroke+vehicle infusion and rats after unilateral cortical stroke and NT3 infusion. Differential expression was analyzed between each of the groups.