Figure 7: Neurite plasticity following Rb1 knockdown is blocked by a PPARυ antagonist.

Dissociated uninjured (non-preconditioned) adult sensory neurons exposed to one of two differing Rb1 siRNA constructs showed enhanced growth. Bars indicate control neurite outgrowth, Rb1 siRNA outgrowth and Rb1 siRNA outgrowth with GW9662 at 0.1 or 1.0 μM. Rb1 siRNA is associated with rises in total neurite outgrowth (a) (*P<0.05; n=3; analysis of variance P<0.05; post hoc Tukey), greater numbers of primary neurites (b) (*P<0.05; n=3; ANOVA P<0.05; post hoc Tukey), longer neurites (c) (*P<0.05; n=3; ANOVA P<0.05; post hoc Tukey) and rises in the number of neurite branches (d) (*P<0.05; n=3; ANOVA P<0.01; post hoc Tukey). The panel below (e) illustrates examples of sensory neurons exposed to an Rb1 siRNA constructs without or with two differing doses of GW9662 (Bar=10 μm, Bar=100 μm). In contrast, exposure of dissociated adult sensory neurons to a PPARυ agonist (f), 15PGJ2 at 100 nM was associated with rises in total neurite outgrowth (*P<0.01; n=7; paired two-tailed Student’s t-test) and in the length of the longest neurite (*P<0.05; n=7; paired two-tailed Student’s t-test). Values are means±s.e.m.