Fig. 4: hIL-6 promotes axon regeneration of serotonergic fibers. | Nature Communications

Fig. 4: hIL-6 promotes axon regeneration of serotonergic fibers.

From: Transneuronal delivery of hyper-interleukin-6 enables functional recovery after severe spinal cord injury in mice

Fig. 4

a Sagittal thoracic spinal cord sections isolated from PTEN+/+, or PTEN−/− animals 8 weeks after spinal cord crush (SCC) and unilateral injection of AAV2-hIL-6 (hIL-6) or AAV2-GFP (gfp) (see Fig. 2). Raphe spinal tract (RpST) axons were stained using an anti-serotonin antibody (5-HT, white). Only AAV2-hIL-6-treated mice with or without additional PTEN−/− showed significant regeneration of serotonergic axons beyond the lesion site (dashed line). As typical for regenerating RpST axons they were located over the whole dorsoventral width of the spinal cord. Examples are indicated by dashed boxes and white arrows. Scale bar: 500 µm. b–i Higher magnification of dashed boxes as indicated in (a). Scale bar: 250 µm. j Quantification of regenerating 5-HT-positive axons as described in (a) at indicated distances beyond the lesion. Values represent the mean ± SEM of 6–10 animals per group (PTEN+/+/gfp, n = 7; PTEN+/+/hIL-6, n = 9; PTEN−/−/gfp, n = 6; PTEN−/−/hIL-6, n = 10; PTEN+/+/hIL-6 (l + r); n = 6). Significances of intergroup differences were evaluated using a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a Holm Sidak post hoc test. Dots in j represent values of single animals. P-values indicate statistical significance; ns = non-significant. Source data are provided as a Source data file.

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