Fig. 8: Functional scaffold implantation remodels the distal lumbar microenvironment. | Nature Communications

Fig. 8: Functional scaffold implantation remodels the distal lumbar microenvironment.

From: Single-cell analysis reveals region-heterogeneous responses in rhesus monkey spinal cord with complete injury

Fig. 8

a Dot plot showing the gene expression of growth factors in cells of the distal lumbar. The size of the dots represents the percent of cells expressing each gene, while the color depicts the scaled average expression. b UMAP plots depicting the oligodendrocyte subsets in the distal lumbar after SCI without or with scaffold implantation at six months. c Heatmap showing the expression of myelination genes in oligodendrocytes after SCI without or with scaffold implantation. The color bar is scaled with the average gene expression. d UMAP plots showing the microglia subsets in the lumbar after SCI without or with scaffold implantation and gene expression for homeostatic, DAMLM, and inflammatory microglia. e The proportion of microglia subsets after SCI with and without scaffold implantation at six months. The red frame indicating inflammatory microglia. f Electron micrographs showing the myelin sheath in the lumbar tissue six months after SCI without and with scaffold implantation. Scale bar, 2 μm. g Immunostaining shows the decreased expression of TNF-α in the distal lumbar tissues after scaffold implantation. Scale bar, 100 μm. h Quantitative analysis showing the mean fluorescence area of TNF-α positive signal in the same visual fields of distal lumbar tissues. Data are shown as mean ± SEM, n = 6 slices per group. *P = 0.0318, two-sided Student’s t test. i Heatmap showing the expression of genes about phagocytosis and lipid metabolism in DAMLM six months after SCI and scaffold implantation. The color bar is scaled with the average expression of the corresponding genes. j Immunostaining of GPNMB and lipid droplets (LD) labeled with BODIPY in the lateral CST area of the distal lumbar tissues six months after SCI and scaffold implantation. Scale bar, 100 μm. k Quantitative analysis showing the mean fluorescence intensity of GPNMB in the same visual fields and the mean area of lipid droplets per cell in the distal lumbar. Data are shown as mean ± SEM, n = 5 slices per group. ***P < 0.0001, two-sided Student’s t test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

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