Figure 5From: Rewiring of regenerated axons by combining treadmill training with semaphorin3A inhibitionImmunohistochemical analyses of the effects of treatment on functional remodeling of spinal circuits and synaptic connectivity at the lumbar enlargement. (A) Representative Camera Lucida drawings of c-Fos + nuclei in transverse sections at the L2 and L4 levels from control rats, SM-345431 treatment rats, combined treatment rats and intact rats. (B) Average total numbers of c-Fos + nuclei at each level of the lumbar spinal segment. (C) Average total number of c-Fos + nuclei in rostral (L1 + L2) and caudal (L4 + L5) lumbar enlargement segments. (D) Correlation analysis between the total number of c-Fos + nuclei in all segments of the lumbar enlargement and step ability on the treadmill. SM-345431 treatment produced a trend toward decreases in the average number of c-Fos + nuclei, although this trend was not statistically significant compared to the control and SM-345431 treatment groups. However, the combined treatment produced a statistically significant decrease in the number of c-Fos + nuclei, suggesting that specific spinal locomotor circuitry was reinforced by combining SM-345431 treatment with extensive treadmill training. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. Statistical analyses were performed using one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc analyses. Data are presented as the mean ± S.E.M. (E-M) Representative reconstructed confocal images of double staining (transverse section) for synapsin-1 and Tuj-1 in the ventricolumnar area of the spinal cord (E-G: low-magnification images, H-M: high-magnification images). H-J and K-M show the upper and lower boxed areas in E-G, respectively. Scale bars = 50 μm. (N) Quantitative analysis of synapsin-1 expression in the ventricolumnar motor neuron area 3 months after SCT. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. Statistical analyses were performed using one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc analyses. Data are presented as the mean ± S.E.M.Back to article page