β1-integrin signaling in vivo regulates astrogliogenesis after spinal cord injury (SCI).

A. Low magnification (10X) images of representative longitudinal sections of injured mouse spinal cords at 3 weeks post SCI, that were injected with either the IKVAV PA, scrambled KIAVV PA or vehicle injected at 24 hours post injury. Sections are stained with DAPI (blue) and GFAP (red). Scale bar = 200 µm. B. Representative confocal Z-stacks taken at higher magnification (20X) of the areas boxed in (a) showing reduced gliosis in the IKVAV PA injected animals at 3 weeks post SCI. Scale bar = 100 µm. C. High magnification (63x) confocal images of the ependymal regions stained with activated β1integrin antibody HUTS-4 (red) and DAPI (blue). Injured mouse spinal cords were injected either with IKVAV PA or vehicle 2 days post injury. Scale bar = 20 µm. D. Spinal cord injured rats were injected with either Tenascin-C epitope presenting PA, RGD epitope presenting PA or vehicle 2 days post injury, and monitored with BBB scoring for 12 weeks. Both PA groups showed significant improvement compared to the vehicle group.