Fig. 2

Acute inhibition of NOX2 reduces markers of oxidative stress. OxyBlot Protein Oxidation assay was used to detect protein carbonylation in naïve (n = 8), scrambled ds-tat- (n = 4), and gp91ds-tat-treated mice (n = 4) at 24 h post-injury (a). Densitometry demonstrated a significant increase in protein carbonylation in scrambled ds-tat-treated mice, which was significantly reduced to naïve levels with gp91ds-tat treatment (b). At these same time points, spinal cord tissue was immunolabeled for 3-nitrotyrosine (green), a marker of nitrosylated protein (scrambled ds-tat: n = 4/time point; gp91ds-tat: n = 4/24 h, 3/7 days; 4/28 days). DAPI nuclear stain is shown in blue. Naïve (n = 4) tissue is shown in c. Qualitative analysis shows that scrambled ds-tat-treated tissue had elevated 3NT immunolabeling in comparison to naïve tissue, primarily in gray matter (d). This elevation grew through 7 days and was lessened at 28 days. Treatment with gp91ds-tat appeared to reduce this immunolabeling at all time points. Bar = 100 μm. *p < 0.05 vs naïve; +p < 0.05 vs scrambled; one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-test. Bars represent mean ± SEM