Fig. 7

HSYA treatment reduced the motor neuron apoptosis of spinal cord at 48 h after SCI. The motor neuron apoptosis was detected by TUNEL staining and Western blot of caspase-3 activity. Obviously, much more karyopyknosis, nuclear fragmentation could be observed in the control group (b) as compared with the sham group (a). Meanwhile, HSYA treatment (c) obviously reduced the quantity of TUNEL-positive nuclei, but still more than that of sham group. The nuclear shape of motor neurons was well preserved in the HSYA group. e, f The Western blotting results showed that the caspase-3 activity was significantly increased in spinal cord injury animals, which was significantly reduced by HSYA treatment. g-j Nissl staining: In the sham group (g), a large amount of granule-like and densely stained toluidine blue were observed in the neurons’ cytoplasm. However, Nissl bodies significantly decreased in the control group (h) neurons. In the HSYA group (i), the number of Nissl bodies preserved compared with that of the control group, whose morphology more resembles that of the sham group. (*P < 0.05 vs. sham group; **P < 0.01 vs. sham group; ^▲ P < 0.05 vs. sham group and control group; ●P < 0.05 vs. control group; P > 0.05 vs. sham)