Figure 3: Softening of the brain in response to stab injury.
From: The soft mechanical signature of glial scars in the central nervous system
(a,b) Comparison of the drop in elastic modulus of different brain regions relative to the contralateral control for individual animals at (a) ∼1.5 weeks PI and (b) ∼three weeks PI. Spatiotemporal changes in brain tissue stiffness were very similar between different animals (Supplementary Tables 2, 3), allowing the data to be pooled. (c–h) Comparison of the mechanical properties and protein expression of injured and contralateral control tissue at 1.5 weeks PI (c–e) and three weeks PI (f–h) (combined data from three animals for each time point). (c,f) Similar to Fig. 2a, four regions were considered for analysis: region A’ (∼500 × 1500 μm2 lateral to the scar), region C′+D′ (∼700 × 1500 μm2 medial to the scar), region B′ (∼600 × 1500 μm2 around the scar excluding the actual scar) and the actual scar region (∼150 × 1500 μm2 around the scar). (d,g) Regional average relative drop in elastic modulus. Tissue was significantly softer at the (Scar), around (B′), and medial (C′+D′) to the scar. (e,h) The glial cell markers GFAP and vimentin and the ECM markers laminin and collagen were all significantly upregulated around the site of injury both at 1.5 and three weeks PI. Error bars are s.e.m., *P<0.01, **P<0.005; ***P<0.001.
