Activity/exercise-induced changes in the liver transcriptome after chronic spinal cord injury

Abstract

Multi-organ dysfunction is a major complication after spinal cord injury (SCI). In addition to local injury within the spinal cord, SCI causes major disruption to the peripheral organ innervation and regulation. The liver contains sympathetic, parasympathetic, and small sensory axons. The bi-directional signaling of sensory dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons that provide both efferent and afferent information is of key importance as it allows sensory neurons and peripheral organs to affect each other. SCI-induced liver inflammation precedes and may exacerbate intraspinal inflammation and pathology after SCI, which may be modulated by activity and exercise. In this study, we collected comprehensive gene expression data through RNA sequencing of liver tissue from rats with chronic SCI to determine the effects of activity and exercise on those expression patterns. The sequenced data are of high quality and show a high alignment rate to the Rn6 genome. Gene expression is demonstrated for genes associated with known liver pathologies. UCSC Genome Browser expression tracks are provided with the data to facilitate exploration of the samples.

Construction of a searchable database for gene expression changes in spinal cord injury experiments

“…Approximately 1.4 million Americans are living with SCI [4]. Over the last 30 years, significant strides have been made in understanding the systems-wide pathophysiology and behavioral components affected by SCI, including axon growth [5][6][7][8][9][10], compensatory sprouting [11][12][13][14][15][16][17], glial cell roles [18][19][20][21][22], gut dysbiosis [23][24][25][26], and the role exercise plays in recovery [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. However, successful translation of potential therapies remains elusive [37].…”

Non-invasive approaches to functional recovery after spinal cord injury: Therapeutic targets and multimodal device interventions

“…The chronic pathology is characterized by axon demyelination (Guest et al, 2005), syrinx formation and enlargement (Krebs et al, 2016), astroglial scar aging (Yoon et al, 2018), and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptophan: 5HT) deprivation in the below-lesion cord (Ganzer et al, 2018). These are coupled with the maladaptive plasticity of the brain (Freund et al, 2011), spinal cord (Cadotte et al, 2012;Strain et al, 2019), and peripheral nerve and organs (Chariker et al, 2019;Kern et al, 2017;van De Meent et al, 2010). The impairments of muscles and bones jeopardize rehabilitation opportunities (Frontera et al, 2006;Clark and Findlay, 2017;Morse et al, 2008).…”

Knockdown of long non-coding RNA LEF1-AS1 attenuates apoptosis and inflammatory injury of microglia cells following spinal cord injury

“…Spinal cord injury (SCI) is, in most cases, caused by trauma and is associated with health burden both at personal and societal levels [ 1 , 2 ]. Studies have shown that over 10,000 cases of SCI are annually reported in the USA, with an increasing trend [ 3 ]. SCI is characterized by a primary mechanical insult to the spinal cord and subsequently causes secondary injury.…”