Fig. 4

Nafamostat inhibited the expression of thrombin and MMP9 after SCI in the injured spinal cord. A Representative line chart of thrombin activity at 3 dpi. B Quantitative analysis of thrombin activity (data shown as mean ± SEM, one-way ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test, ****P < 0.0001, n = 5). C Representative western blot image of thrombin and MMP expression 3 days after SCI. D, E Quantitative analysis of thrombin and MMP9 expression level (data shown as mean ± SEM, unpaired t-test, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, n = 3). F Representative longitude immunofluorescence image of thrombin (red) at 3 days post-injury. Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar = 800 μm. The dotted lines represent area where thrombin infiltrates the spinal parenchyma. G Quantitative analysis of the fluorescence intensity of thrombin at different locations with the injury site as the center. H Quantitative analysis of the size of thrombin infiltration area (data shown as mean ± SEM, unpaired t-test, *P < 0.05, n = 3)