Fig. 1

MSR1 deficiency reduced spinal cord damage and motor function deficits after spinal cord injury. a–c Quantitative PCR and immunoblotting of MSR1 at days 3, 7, and 14 after SCI or sham surgery (n = 3 mice per group at each time point, values are the mean ± SD, *p < 0.05, one-way ANOVA). d Statistical analysis of the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS) in the MSR1 WT and KO groups over a 28-day period (n = 5 mice per group at each time point, values are the mean ± SD, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, one-way ANOVA). e–f Photographs of the various degrees of trunk instability (TI) that were observed after SCI or sham surgery, and statistical analysis of the Louisville Swim Scale in the MSR1 WT and KO groups over a 28-day period (n = 5 mice per group at each time point, values are the mean ± SD, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, one-way ANOVA). g Representative images of GFAP (in green) and NF200 (in red) in the lesion sites of the MSR1 WT and KO groups at day 28 post injury, nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue); the dashed lines indicate the boundary of the damaged area (n = 5 per group, scale bar = 500 μm). h Quantification of the NF200 intensity increase and GFAP intensity decrease compared with the levels in the sham group (n = 5 per group, values are the mean ± SD, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, two-tailed Student’s t tests). i–j Representative images showing TUNEL and DAPI co-staining of spinal cord sections of the MSR1 KO and WT mice that were subjected to a sham operation or SCI (n = 5 per group, values are the mean ± SD, NS indicates no significance, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, one-way ANOVA, scale bar = 200 μm). k Western blots of cleaved caspase-3, Bcl-2, and Bax expression in the spinal cords of the MSR1 WT and KO groups that were subjected to a sham operation or SCI. l Quantification of activated caspase-3 protein expression and the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax in the spinal cords of the MSR1 WT and KO groups that were subjected to a sham operation or SCI (n = 3 per group, values are the mean ± SD, NS indicates no significance, **p < 0.01, one-way ANOVA)