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. 2017 May 15;34(10):1858–1872. doi: 10.1089/neu.2016.4559

FIG. 1.

FIG. 1.

Experimental timeline. Following treadmill acclimation and acquisition of pre-transection walking data, neurotrophin-treated cats underwent surgery to obtain fibroblast samples. Those fibroblasts were transfected to express brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) or neurotrophic factor 3 (NT-3) with a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter. No fibroblasts were collected in CONTROL animals. All cats received a complete transection at the T11/T12 spinal level. ACUTE group cats received a graft of modified autologous fibroblasts at the time of surgery; other cats received this graft after a delay. CONTROL cats underwent a mock grafting surgery 2 weeks post-transection, when the injury site was debrided as for the neurotrophin- treated groups, but no cells were implanted into the cavity site. CHRONIC group cats had an extra treadmill recording session 5 weeks after injury (1 week before grafting) to assess any natural recovery. Kinematic recordings were made at 3 and 5 weeks post-grafting for all cats. Some animals survived to 12 weeks with extra recording sessions. Histological evaluation was performed after the last kinematic recording for all cats.