Figure 7: Specific knock down of c-Jun in adult sensory neurons inhibits axotomy-induced axon regeneration.

(a) Representative immunoblots using adult DRGs that were transfected with control or a mixture of four different siRNAs against c-jun (ON-TARGETplus, Dharmacon) either in vitro or in vivo. Note that c-Jun was efficiently knocked down both in vitro and in vivo. (b) Distribution of axon lengths of control and si-c-jun-transfected neurons. Shown are distributions of axon lengths from control (blue) and si-c-jun-transfected neurons (green). (c) Average axon lengths from control (n=5 mice) and si-c-jun-transfected neurons (n=5 mice). *P=0.022 (two-tailed Student's t-test) compared with control. (d) Distribution of in vivo axon regeneration rates of EGFP-transfected neurons after sciatic nerve crush under control condition. A total of 71 axons pooled from five mice were included in the analysis. (e) Distribution of axon regeneration lengths of control and si-c-jun-transfected mice when analysed at 4 days after nerve crush. A total of 142 axons pooled from ten mice were included in the analysis for control and si-c-Jun (71 axons from five mice for control; 71 axons from five mice for si-c-Jun). (f) Average axon lengths of control (n=5 mice) and si-c-jun-transfected neurons (n=5 mice) when analysed at 4 days after nerve crush. *P<0.00001 (two-tailed Student's t-test) compared with control. Comparison is made between animals. Error bars indicate standard error of the mean.