Figure 5.

SCI decreased activation of Laminae II/III inhibitory interneurons. SCI alone decreased the activation of Laminae II/III inhibitory interneurons. Representative images of DH without stimulation 35 d following laminectomy: TdTomato (A), Pax2 (B), and merge (C), and following SCI: TdTomato (D), Pax2 (E), and merge (F). Quantification of SCI-induced activation of Laminae II+III Pax2⁺ inhibitory interneurons in the absence of stimulation (G). Representative DH images following mechanical stimulation at 35 d after laminectomy: TdTomato (H), Pax2 (I), and merge (J), and 35 d post-SCI: TdTomato (K), Pax2 (L), and merge (M). Quantification of mechanical stimulation induced Pax2⁺ inhibitory interneuron activation (N). Representative images of cells triple-labeled for: TdTomato, Pax2, and interneuron subtype-specific marker: parvalbumin (O), NPY (P), and nNOS (Q). Quantification of marker⁺Pax2⁺TdTomato⁺ triple-labeled cells 35 d after injury with mechanical stimulation (R). Gray bars in graphs: laminectomy-only; white bars in graphs: cervical contusion. White arrowheads indicate double-labeled (in panels A–F and H–M) or triple-labeled (in panels O–Q) cells; blue arrowheads indicate TdTomato⁺ Pax2^- subtype marker⁺ cells. Scale bars: 100 µm (A) and 15 µm (O).