Fig. 4

Expression of ASK1/p-ASK1, JNK/p-JNK and p38/p-p38 in the spinal cord following SNI. a, b Histogram showed the expression level of p-ASK1 in SNI rats spinal dorsal horn was elevated from 3 to 14 days following nerve injury (^****p < 0.0001 compared with sham group, n = 6 in each group). c Double-immunofluorescence of p-ASK1 and NeuN, Iba-1, GFAP in the spinal cord of sham rats. d Double-immunofluorescence of p-ASK1 and NeuN, Iba-1, GFAP in the spinal cord of SNI rats. e Histogram showed that p-ASK1 co-localization with NeuN, or Iba-1, or GFAP was increased in SNI rats (^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01 compared with sham group, n = 6 in each group). f–g Western blot result showed that there is no significant difference regarding the protein levels of ASK1 among sham and SNI group, while the protein levels of p-ASK1 in SNI rats was markedly increased from day 3 to day 14 (^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001 compared with sham group, n = 6 in each group). h, i Western blot result showed that there is no significant difference regarding the protein levels of JNK among sham and SNI group, while the protein levels of p-JNK in SNI rats was markedly increased from day 3 to day 14 (^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001 compared with sham group, n = 6 in each group). j, k Western blot result showed that there is no significant difference regarding the protein levels of p38 among sham and SNI group, while the protein levels of p-p38 in SNI rats was markedly increased from day 3 to day 14 (^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001 compared with sham group, n = 6 in each group)