Sex-dependent alterations in motor cortex linking spinal cord injury to long-term neurodegeneration risk

The molecular mechanism linking spinal cord injury and brain abnormality, however, remains elusive and has been largely attributed to neuroinflammation. In this work, we assessed persistent compositional and molecular changes in the motor cortex at 30 days post injury, a commonly perceived chronic stage, using a rat T10 contusion injury model.

Brain slices and neurons isolated from the motor cortex were assessed using immunohistochemistry and RNA-sequencing, respectively. We observed significant changes in cellular compositions in the motor cortex including a decreased neuron to astrocyte ratio, and alterations in the morphology of neurons and astrocytes, indicating changes in functionality. Comparison of transcriptomic data collected at a sub-acute stage, namely 7 days post injury, with that at 30 days post injury, identified persistent and de novo (genes uniquely altered at 30 dpi.) changes that occur primarily after recovery of the spinal cord injury, enriched for neuronal and synaptic function related pathways.