Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada, T1K 3M4.
Behav Brain Res. 2011 Nov 20;225(1):184-91. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.07.023. Epub 2011 Jul 23.
Motor cortex injuries in adulthood lead to poor performance in behavioral tasks sensitive to limb movements in the rat. We have shown previously that motor cortex injury on day 10 or day 55 allow significant spontaneous recovery but not injury in early adolescence (postnatal day 35 "P35"). Previous studies have indicated that injection of basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) enhances behavioral recovery after neonatal cortical injury but such effect has not been studied following motor cortex lesions in early adolescence. The present study undertook to investigate the possibility of such behavioral recovery. Rats with unilateral motor cortex lesions were assigned to two groups in which they received FGF-2 or bovine serum albumin (BSA) and were tested in a number of behavioral tests (postural asymmetry, skilled reaching, sunflower seed manipulation, forepaw inhibition in swimming). Golgi-Cox analysis was used to examine the dendritic structure of pyramidal cells in the animals' parietal (layer III) and forelimb (layer V) area of the cortex. The results indicated that rats injected with FGF-2 (but not BSA) showed significant behavioral recovery that was associated with increased dendritic length and spine density. The present study suggests a role for FGF-2 in the recovery of function following injury during early adolescence.
成年期的运动皮层损伤会导致大鼠肢体运动相关行为任务表现不佳。我们之前已经表明，第 10 天或第 55 天的运动皮层损伤允许显著的自发恢复，但在青春期早期（出生后第 35 天“P35”）的损伤则不行。先前的研究表明，碱性成纤维细胞生长因子（FGF-2）的注射可增强新生皮质损伤后的行为恢复，但尚未研究过在青春期早期运动皮层损伤后是否存在这种效果。本研究旨在探讨这种行为恢复的可能性。单侧运动皮层损伤的大鼠被分为两组，它们分别接受 FGF-2 或牛血清白蛋白（BSA）注射，并在多项行为测试中进行了测试（姿势不对称、熟练抓取、向日葵籽操作、游泳时前爪抑制）。高尔基-考克斯分析用于检查动物顶叶（第 III 层）和前肢（第 V 层）皮层的锥体神经元的树突结构。结果表明，接受 FGF-2 注射（而非 BSA）的大鼠表现出显著的行为恢复，这与树突长度和棘突密度的增加有关。本研究表明，FGF-2 在青春期早期损伤后的功能恢复中发挥作用。
