Fig. 7

Metformin inhibits endogenous NSCs ferroptosis via AMPK-dependent regulation following SCI in rats. (A-D) Representative western blot images and quantitative analysis of expression level of ACSL4, SLC7A11 and GPX4 of spinal cord (N = 3). The relative expression level of target proteins was normalized by GAPDH and then calculated as fold changes of the sham group. (E) Schematic diagram of the experiments on spinal cord contusion rats. Spinal cord tissues were harvested at 7 days post-injury and immunofluorescence staining was performed on transverse sections of spinal cord 1 mm rostral to the lesion center. (F, G) Representative immunofluorescence images of spinal cord sections labeled with GPX4 (red), and quantitative analysis of the relative fluorescence intensity of GPX4 (N = 3). Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). The relative fluorescence intensity was calculated as fold changes of the injury group. Scale bar = 100 μm. (H) Quantitative analysis of iron content level of spinal cord (N = 3). (I) Quantitative analysis of GSH expression level of spinal cord (N = 3). All analyses were conducted using one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s post-hoc test. Data are shown as mean ± SEM. (* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001)