Fig. 1

Spinal cord tissue softens after crush injury. (A) Sagittal immunofluorescence images for microglia (CX3CR1, red) and astrocyte (GFAP, green) in spinal cord sagittal sections from uninjured mice and injured mice at 7 and 14 days post-injury (dpi). The color maps represent the elastic modulus in the regions of interest (ROI). The lesion core was marked with the asterisks. Point a represents the GFAP⁻ lesion core, and point b represents the GFAP⁺ penumbra region from injured mice at 7 and 14 dpi. The positions of uninjured mice a’ and b’ were similar to those of a and b at 7 and 14 dpi, respectively. Scale bar: 100 μm. (B) Comparison of the elastic properties of lesion core and penumbra area in (A). n = 3 animals in (B). ns, no significance; ****P < 0.0001 by two-way ANOVA