Figure 2

Effects of MK801 treatment on NF-κB and nuclear NF-κB p65. By western blot analysis, a basal level of IκB-α was detected in the spinal cord from sham-operated animals (a, a1), whereas IκB-α levels were substantially reduced in SCI mice (a, a1). MK801 treatment (2 mg/kg 30 min and 6 h after SCI induction) reduced the SCI-induced IκB-α degradation (a, a1). In addition, SCI caused a significant increase in the phosphorylation of Ser536 at 24 h (b, b1) and in nuclear NF-κB p65 compared to the sham-operated mice (c, c1). MK801 treatment (2 mg/kg 30 min and 6 h after SCI induction) significantly reduced the phosphorylation of p65 on Ser536 (b, b1) and NF-κB p65 levels as shown in panels c and c1. α-tubulin and Laminin A/C were used as internal control. A representative blot of lysates obtained from each group is shown, and densitometry analysis of all animals is reported. Respective densitometry analysis of protein bands from three separated experiments is reported in a1, b1, and c1 (**p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 vs. Sham; #p < 0.05 and ###p < 0.001 vs. SCI).