Locomotor Recovery Assessment
Objective: Assessment of locomotor recovery in mice following spinal cord contusion injury, comparing C1q knock-out and wild-type mice
This is a Locomotor Recovery Assessment protocol using mouse as the model organism. The procedure involves 5 procedural steps, 1 equipment items, 1 materials. Extracted from a 2008 paper published in Journal of Neuroscience.
Model and subjects
mouse • BUB (complement sufficient background) C1q knock-out (KO) and wild-type (WT) • male • Not specified • Not specified
Study window
~4 week study window
Core workflow
Spinal cord contusion injury • Locomotor recovery assessment • von Frey filament testing
Primary readouts
- Locomotor recovery
- Withdrawal threshold from mild stimulus (von Frey filament testing)
- Percentage of macrophages in spinal cord (F4/80+ cells by FACS)
- Lesion volume
Key equipment and reagents
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Protocol Steps
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Spinal cord contusion injury
Male C1q knock-out (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice on a complement sufficient background (BUB) received a mild-moderate T9 contusion injury using the Infinite Horizon impactor
Note: T9 vertebral level targeted for contusion
View evidence from paper
“male C1q knock-out (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice on a complement sufficient background (BUB) received a mild-moderate T9 contusion injury with the Infinite Horizon impactor”
Locomotor recovery assessment
Assessment of locomotor recovery in mice following spinal cord contusion injury
Note: BUB C1q KO mice exhibited greater locomotor recovery compared with BUB WT mice (p < 0.05)
View evidence from paper
“BUB C1q KO mice exhibited greater locomotor recovery compared with BUB WT mice ( p < 0.05)”
von Frey filament testing
Testing withdrawal threshold from mild stimulus using von Frey filaments
Note: Decreased threshold for withdrawal observed in BUB C1q KO mice
View evidence from paper
“Improved recovery observed in BUB C1q KO mice was also associated with decreased threshold for withdrawal from a mild stimulus using von Frey filament testing”
FACS analysis at 3 days post-injury
Quantification of microglia/macrophages (F4/80) by FACS analysis 3 days post-injury
Note: BUB C1q KO mice exhibited significantly greater percentage of macrophages in spinal cord compared with BUB WT mice (p < 0.05)
View evidence from paper
“Quantification of microglia/macrophages (F4/80) by FACS analysis showed that BUB C1q KO mice exhibited a significantly greater percentage of macrophages in the spinal cord compared with BUB WT mice 3 d post-injury ( p < 0.05)”
Stereological assessment at 28 days post-injury
Stereological assessment of spinal cord tissue obtained 28 days post-injury to evaluate lesion volume, tissue sparing, and F4/80-positive cells
Note: No difference in F4/80-positive cells between groups; BUB C1q KO mice had reduced lesion volume and increased tissue sparing compared with BUB WT mice (p < 0.05)
View evidence from paper
“stereological assessment of spinal cord tissue obtained 28 d post-injury revealed no difference in F4/80-positive cells between groups. Stereological assessment of spinal cord tissue showed that BUB C1q KO mice had reduced lesion volume and an increase in tissue sparing compared with BUB WT mice ( p < 0.05)”