Novel Concept of Motor Functional Analysis for Spinal Cord Injury in Adult Mice

Munehisa Shinozaki,Nobuhito Saito,Yoshiaki Toyama,Hideyuki Okano,Masahiko Mukaino,Masaya Nakamura,Yuichiro Takahashi

doi:10.1155/2011/157458

Munehisa Shinozaki, Nobuhito Saito + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/157458

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Abstract

In basic research on spinal cord injury (SCI), behavioral evaluation of the SCI animal model is critical. However, it is difficult to accurately evaluate function in the mouse SCI model due to the small size of mice. Although the open-field scoring scale is an outstanding appraisal method, supplementary objective tests are required. Using a compact SCANET system, in which a mouse carries out free movement for 5 min, we developed a novel method to detect locomotor ability. A SCANET system samples the horizontal coordinates of a mouse every 0.1 s, and both the speed and acceleration of its motion are calculated at each moment. It was found that the maximum speed and acceleration of motion over 5 min varied by injury severity. Moreover, these values were significantly correlated with open-field scores. The maximum speed and acceleration of SCI model mice using a SCANET system are objective, easy to obtain, and reproducible for evaluating locomotive function.

Highlights

In basic research on spinal cord injury (SCI), accurate evaluation of motor function in animal models is important
Using a compact SCANET system, in which a mouse carries out free movement for 5 min, we developed a novel method to detect locomotor ability
There were significant differences in these parameters among the contusion, the transection, and the control groups throughout the observation period, and, especially in the contusion group, they were significantly correlated with the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS) score during the recovery process

Summary

Introduction

In basic research on spinal cord injury (SCI), accurate evaluation of motor function in animal models is important. The Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) score and the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS) are widely used [1, 2], objective supplemental tests are desirable, and various methods have been developed [3,4,5,6,7,8]. A novel method to evaluate the maximum locomotor ability of a mouse using the SCANET system is presented [9]. SCANET system is originally a device which measures voluntary motor activity of an animal. It consists of 45-cm-square Plexiglas cage, frames which contain infrared sensors and enclose the cage, and a notebook computer. The maximum speed and maximum acceleration extracted from the 5 min of data were taken as the best locomotor function. There were significant differences in these parameters among the contusion, the transection, and the control groups throughout the observation period, and, especially in the contusion group, they were significantly correlated with the BMS score during the recovery process

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