FL-RAGE protein levels and FL/sRAGE mRNAs ratio alterations in spinal cord tissues from SOD1G93A rats. Protein lysates (a, b) and mRNAs (c, d) of lumbar (a, c) and cervical (b, d) spinal cord from wild-type (WT), presymptomatic (ps-SOD1G93A), and end-stage (es-SOD1G93A) rats were analyzed, respectively, by Western blot (a, b) and semiquantitative PCR (c, d). Anti-RAGE antibody was used to detect the FL-RAGE in the tissues. Anti-GAPDH antibody was used to normalize the samples (a, b). The lower panels of (a) and (b) show signal quantification expressed in arbitrary units (AU), relative to WT animals, and reported as mean ± s.d. (n = 3 animals per group). ∗P < 0.05. FL-RAGE, sRAGE and β-actin PCR products are shown (c, d). The lower panels of (c) and (d) show the FL/sRAGE ratio obtained from signal quantification, expressed in arbitrary units (AU) relative to WT animals, and reported as mean ± s.d. (n = 3 animals per group). ∗P < 0.05.