Fig. 3

ATF3 expression in DRG and VH neurons. a, b ATF3 expression in DRG neurons of control (CTR) and RCS mice (7 days of RCS). The white dotted lines indicate the edge of the DRG. c Time-dependent expression of ATF3 in DRG neurons after RCS loading. d Quantification of the number of ATF3-positive DRG neurons after RCS. Note that a small number of ATF3-positive cells was observed from day 1; this increased in a time-dependent manner. n = 5 mice for each group. *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001. Error bars indicate the SEM. One-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test. e, f ATF3 expression in spinal cord of control (CTR) and RCS mice (7 days of RCS). g–j Immunostaining of ATF3, ChAT and Iba1 in spinal cord at 7 days of RCS. ATF3-positive neurons (arrowheads) were ChAT-positive in the dorsal part of the VH and surrounded by Iba1-positive microglia after RCS loading. The white dotted lines show the edge of spinal cord. k–n Time-dependent expression of ATF3 in the VH of spinal code after RCS. The white dotted lines in k–n show the edge of gray matter in spinal cord. Scale bars, 200 μm in a, b, 50 μm in c, k–n and, 100 μm in e–j