Figure 5. Spinal cord of a BMSC-transplanted rat.

2-w PI. Immunostaining for axons (red) and astrocytes (green). Transverse section.

This spinal cord was obtained from the rat that had received BMSC injections starting at 2 weeks after contusion injury and was fixed 4 weeks following the initial cell injection. This rat showed BBB improvement from 3 points before cell injection to 9 at fixation.

The panels (A), (B), and (C) show the cross sections of the spinal cord 1-mm rostral to the epicenter, epicenter of the lesion, and 1-mm caudal to the epicenter, respectively. The spinal cord at the epicenter (B) has, on the right margin of the spinal cord, a part of the white matter (shown in green) remaining after injury, with numerous axons extending in the central area of the lesion. A part of the epicenter (*) in (B) is enlarged in (D), showing numerous axons and a small number of astrocytes remaining on the margin of the spinal cord.

Scale: 1 mm for (A), (B), and (C); 125 µm for (D).