Long non-coding RNA GAS5 promotes neuronal apoptosis in spinal cord injury via the miR-21/PTEN axis

Figure 6 Downregulation of growth arrest-specific transcript 5 attenuates neuronal apoptosis in the spinal cord of spinal cord injury rats via the microRNA 21/phosphatase and tensin homolog axis. A: Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor scores for spinal cord injury (SCI) rats treated with short hairpin growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (shGAS5) or short hairpin negative control (shNC) lentivirus (n = 6 per group); B and C: Relative expression levels of microRNA (miR)-21, GAS5, PTEN, caspase-3, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), and AKT in spinal cord tissues from SCI rats treated with shGAS5 or shNC lentivirus (n = 6 per group); D: Protein expression levels of cleaved caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bax, PTEN, AKT, and phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) in spinal cord tissues, analyzed by Western blotting (n = 6 per group); E: TUNEL staining of spinal cord tissues from SCI rats treated with shGAS5 or shNC lentivirus; F: Schematic diagram illustrating the mechanism of GAS5 in SCI-induced neuronal apoptosis. Data are presented as the mean ± SD. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, and ^cP < 0.001 vs sham group; ^eP < 0.05, ^fP < 0.01 and ^gP < 0.001 vs SCI + shNC group.