FIG. 1.

Wnt ligand expression in the spinal cord of adult mice after spinal cord injury (SCI). All of the Wnt ligands, with the exception of Wnt8b, were constitutively expressed in the uninjured adult spinal cord. After SCI, three main profiles of Wnt ligand expression were observed: 1) no change or a dramatic reduction (Wnt2b, -3a, -4, -5a, -5b, -6, -7a, -7b, -8a, -10a, -11, and -16); 2) early induction (Wnt1, -3, and -15); and 3) late induction (Wnt2 and -9). All analyses were performed using total RNA samples isolated from a 1-cm-long fragment of the spinal cord from uninjured control animals (C) and fragments containing the damaged area of the spinal cord from different times postinjury (6 and 24 hpi as well as 3, 7, and 14 dpi). Gene expression of Wnt ligands was measured using quantitative polymerase chain reaction with specific primers, and the results were normalized to β-actin expression. The values for each experimental group and day are expressed as the mean±standard error of the mean (n=4). Each animal/sample was assayed in triplicate in two separate occasions, yielding two independent technical triplicates and six measurements per sample. *p<0.05, compared to C. mRNA, messenger RNA; d, days.