Figure 6.

Expression levels of P2X4R and GFAP proteins in injured spinal cord after transplantation.

Expression levels of GFAP and P2X4 were assessed by western blot assay in the first week (A), second week (B), third week (C) and fourth week (D) after NSC transplantation. Western blot protein levels were normalized to β-actin as a loading control. Relative optical density of protein bands was measured following subtraction of the film background. **P < 0.01. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM (one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey’s post hoc test). Experiments were performed in triplicate. P2X4R and GFAP levels exhibited higher increases in the vehicle group compared with the sham group. Considerable decreases in P2X4R and GFAP expression levels were observed after NSC treatment. GFAP: Glial fibrillary acidic protein; NSC: neural stem cells.