Knockdown of Nogo gene by short hairpin RNA interference promotes functional recovery of spinal cord injury in a rat model

Liu,Guo‑Min; Luo,Yun‑Gang; Li,Juan; Xu,Kun

doi:10.3892/mmr.2016.5072

Knockdown of Nogo gene by short hairpin RNA interference promotes functional recovery of spinal cord injury in a rat model

Authors:
- Guo‑Min Liu
- Yun‑Gang Luo
- Juan Li
- Kun Xu
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Affiliations: Department of Orthopedics, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130041, P.R. China, Department of Stomatology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130041, P.R. China, Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China
Published online on: March 30, 2016 https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2016.5072
Pages: 4431-4436

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Abstract

The specific myelin component Nogo protein is one of the major inhibitory molecules of spinal cord axonal outgrowth following spinal cord injury. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of silencing Nogo protein with shRNA interference on the promotion of functional recovery in a rat model with spinal cord hemisection. Nogo-A short hairpin RNAs (Nogo shRNAs) were constructed and transfected into rats with spinal cord hemisection by adenovirus-mediated transfection. Reverse transcription‑polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were performed to analyze the expression of Nogo-A and Growth Associated Protein 43 (GAP-43). In addition, Basso Beattie Bresnahan (BBB) scores were used to assess the functional recovery of rats following spinal cord injury. The results demonstrated that expression of the Nogo‑A gene was observed to be downregulated following transfection and GAP‑43 expression was observed to increase. The BBB scores were increased following treatment with Nogo shRNAs, indicating functional recovery of the injured nerves. Thus, Nogo-A shRNA interference can knockdown Nogo gene expression and upregulate GAP-43 to promote the functional recovery of spinal cord injury in rats. This finding may advance progress toward assisting the regeneration of injured neurons through the use of Nogo-A shRNA.

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