Fig. 1

Elevated levels of TGF-α in the SVZ, injured cortex and CSF in response to a mechanical cortical injury. A Scheme of experimental procedures. B Mechanical cortical lesions were unilaterally performed in the adult mouse primary motor cortex. Mouse CSF was obtained 7 days post-injury (dpi). The graph shows TGF-α detection (pg/mL) in CSF at 7 dpi and in non-injured mice (sham). C Relative mRNA expression of TGF-α, and EGFR in the injured cortex (ipsi) and in non-injured cortex (contra) at 7 dpi and 14 dpi. mRNA expression was measured using RT-qPCR. D Relative mRNA expression of TGF-α and EGFR in the SVZ of the injured ipsilateral side (ipsi) and non-injured side (contra) 7 dpi and14 dpi. mRNA expression was measured using RT-qPCR. The data show the means ± SEM. (*p < 0,05, **p < 0,01, ipsilateral vs. contralateral) in one-way ANOVA, followed by posthoc Bonferroni test and Student’s t test for equal-variance paired samples. Data are the mean ± S.E.M; n = 4–6 animals per group. E–F Images of chemiluminescence signal of immunoblot detection of TGF-α and β-tubulin (loading control) in the cortex and SVZ of 7 dpi and 14 dpi mice. Integrated optical density quantification of images obtained from immunoblots: cortex and SVZ protein expression of TGF-α according to β-tubulin. G Representative confocal images showing the area surrounding the cortical lesion (ipsilateral) and the non-injured hemisphere (contralateral) processed for the immunodetection of TGF-α. The dotted line indicates the limit of the lesion (L) and the scale bar represents 50 μm. H Graph represents the number of TGF-α⁺ cells in the perilesional area compared to contralateral cortex. I Representative confocal images of adult mice SVZ bearing a unilateral cortical injury. Ipsilateral and contralateral SVZ were processed for the immunodetection of TGF-α. The dotted line indicates the limits of the lateral ventricles (LV). The scale bar represents 50 μm. J Graph shows TGF-α burden as a percentage of the total SVZ area in ipsilateral and contralateral SVZ. Statistical analysis: *p < 0.05 compared the ipsilateral site with the contralateral side in a Student’s t-test for equal-variance unpaired samples. Data are the mean ± S.E.M; n = 6 animals per group