Figure 5.

The cellular and molecular composition of the scar following human SCI at both early and long survival times. Transverse sections of the human spinal cord of patients with survival times of 10 to 24 days after SCI. The schematic diagrams in the upper right corner indicate the region of the section from which images were prepared (black rectangle). A: Ten days after SCI, NG2 staining demonstrated round to oval-shaped cells at the lesion epicentre (arrows). B: In sections from the lesion site of the same case, neurocan immunoreactivity revealed myelin staining in a dorsal nerve root that stopped abruptly at the dorsal root entry zone. C: Eleven days after SCI, NG2 staining in the intermediate zone demonstrated cells with a round to oval morphology (arrows) and small stellate-shaped cells (arrowheads). D: In the same section, higher magnification better illustrated the stellate-shaped morphology of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (arrows). E: Twenty-four days after SCI, phosphacan staining was present on myelin rings of some axonal structures close to the lesion epicentre. F: In sections from the intermediate zone of the same case, GFAP immunohistochemistry revealed a dense network of irregular fibres without identifiable cell bodies in between. G-H: In near adjacent sections from the intermediate zone, NG2 (G) and phosphacan (H) staining revealed similar distributions, with a dense, irregular network of fibres and no clearly identifiable immunoreactive cell bodies. (A-C and E-H magnification × 320, D magnification × 640).