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. 2013 May 23;29(3):321–332. doi: 10.1007/s12264-013-1340-0

Expression changes and bioinformatic analysis of Wallerian degeneration after sciatic nerve injury in rat

Dengbing Yao 11340,21340, Meiyuan Li 11340, Dingding Shen 11340, Fei Ding 11340, Shibi Lu 31340, Qing Zhao 31340,✉, Xiaosong Gu 11340,✉
PMCID: PMC5561847  PMID: 23700281

Abstract

Wallerian degeneration (WD) remains an important research topic. Many genes are differentially expressed during the process of WD, but the precise mechanisms responsible for these differentiations are not completely understood. In this study, we used microarrays to analyze the expression changes of the distal nerve stump at 0, 1, 4, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after sciatic nerve injury in rats. The data revealed 6 076 differentially-expressed genes, with 23 types of expression, specifically enriched in genes associated with nerve development and axonogenesis, cytokine biosynthesis, cell differentiation, cytokine/chemokine production, neuron differentiation, cytokinesis, phosphorylation and axon regeneration. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis gave findings related mainly to the MAPK signaling pathway, the Jak-STAT signaling pathway, the cell cycle, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, the p53 signaling pathway and the Wnt signaling pathway. Some key factors were NGF, MAG, CNTF, CTNNA2, p53, JAK2, PLCB1, STAT3, BDNF, PRKC, collagen II, FGF, THBS4, TNC and c-Src, which were further validated by real-time quantitative PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the functional analysis of differentially-expressed genes in WD and may shed light on the molecular mechanisms of nerve degeneration and regeneration.

Keywords: Wallerian degeneration, rat, sciatic nerve, expression change, microarrays

Footnotes

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Contributor Information

Qing Zhao, Email: drzhaoqing@sina.com.

Xiaosong Gu, Email: nervegu@ntu.edu.cn.

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