Resection of Scar Tissue in Rats With Spinal Cord Injury Can Promote the Expression of β?-tubulin in the Injured Area

BACKGROUND: Previous research shows that scar tis- sue formed in the injured area after spinal cord injury blocks nerve regeneration and functional recovery. How- ever, those researchers tried to prevent the formation of scar after spinal cord injury to promote nerve regeneration, but it ran counter to their desire, indicating that the for- raation of scar might play a role in functional recovery after spinal cord injury.<br />METHODS: To investigate roles of scar formation on<br />functional repair after spinal cord injury, we selected several different key time points to resect the scar tissue formed after spinal cord injury based on the rat models of the T8-T9 transection injury of spinal cord. First, the re- covery of motor function was evaluated by Basso Beattie Bresnahan score and electrophysiologic examination; second. the pathologic features of functional recovery were analyzed mainly by immunofluorescence Bill-tubulin staining: finally, the genes related to the recovery of motor function were predicted by high-throughput sequencing analysis.<br />RESULTS: Immunofluorescence results showed that the resection of scar tissue promoted significantly the recovery of motor function and the expression of Bill-tubulin in the injured area in the second week after spinal cord injury. Furthermore, RNA-seq studies showed that Tubb3 and Tubb6 gene expression and other neural regeneration pathways were significantly different in the tissue before and after early resection.<br />CONCLUSIONS: Excision of scar tissue in the second week promoted nerve regeneration after spinal cord injury. Tubb3 and Tubb6 genes might be the potential targets for spinal cord injury therapy in our study.