Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Eph receptors can regulate axon-mediated environment inhibiting axonal repair and regeneration. EphB3 is an extremely important member of the Eph family, therefore, to study the relationship between EphB3 and spinal cord injury will become the new direction of research at home and abroad.
OBJECTIVE: To observe the expression of EphB3 receptor protein and gene in rats with spinal cord injury.
METHODS: The spinal cord hemisection method was used to establish a rat model of spinal cord injury. Using reverse transcription-PCR and Western blot assay, we observed the mRNA and protein expressions of EphB3 in the spinal cord at 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks after spinal cord injury in comparison with normal rats.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: EphB3 gene and protein were highly expressed in injured spinal cord tissues, but they had no significant changes at 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks after injury (P ≥ 0.05). In the spinal cord tissues of normal rats, the mRNA and protein expressions of EphB3 were very low. A significant difference in the mRNA and protein expressions was found between spinal cord injury rats and normal rats (P < 0.05). These findings indicate that spinal cord injury can result in the long-term, stable and high expression of EphB3 receptor protein.