Figure 8.

Gene delivery of ChABC leads to improved sensorimotor function and spinal conduction following spinal contusion. A, Impact data showing the actual force applied to individual animals was within 10% of the intended force of 150 kdyne and mean values for each group were not significantly different (n = 14 per group; p > 0.05; 1-way ANOVA), confirming that any group differences were not due to differences in the impact force during surgery. B, Treatment with LV-ChABC leads to an early and sustained improvement in sensorimotor function, as shown by a significant reduction in footslips on the horizontal ladder task at all postinjury time points compared with contusion only and contusion plus LV-GFP treatment; p < 0.01, two-way repeated-measures ANOVA, Bonferroni's post hoc). C, Following treatment with LV-ChABC, there is a significant improvement in the percentage of sensory dorsal column axons that are capable of conducting through the injury site at a chronic (10 weeks) postinjury time point (p < 0.01, 1-way ANOVA, Tukey's post hoc). D, Example traces of recordings.