Fig. 6

Pharmacologically inhibiting the PDGF-BB/PDGFRβ signaling pathway facilitates functional recovery and axonal regeneration after SCI. a Scheme of the experimental setup. Imatinib or PBS was injected intrathecally every day from 4 h until 28 days post-injury (dpi). b Behavioral testing using the BMS score was performed at the indicated time points. c, d Footprint assays (c) and quantitative analysis (d) in mice treated with PBS or imatinib at 28 dpi. e Low-power photographs of intact spinal cord tissue in mice treated as above at 28 dpi. f Representative immunofluorescence images of GFAP (green) and 5-HT axons (red) in mice treated as described above at 28 dpi. Right panel show high magnification images in the dotted box on the left panel. g Quantification of the lesion distance to the 5-HT axon tip. h, k Representative immunofluorescence images of GFAP (green), NF-H fibers (red), GAP43 fibers (red), and NeuN⁺ neurons (red) in Z1-Z3 zones adjacent to the lesion core in mice treated as above at 28 dpi. Right panel show brightfield image (upper) and high magnification image (lower) in the dotted box in the left panel of h. Scale bars: 200 μm (e), 100 μm (left panel in f and h, right upper panel in h and k), and 20 μm (right panel in f and right lower panel in h). i, j, l Quantification of NF-H intensity (i), GAP43 intensity (j), and NeuN⁺ neurons numbers (l). Data are expressed as mean ± s.e.m. n = 5–7 per time point or per group. All images are from sagittal sections. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001 versus control by two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test in b and l. **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 versus control by unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test in d, g, i, and j