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Also, IFN\u03b3 is involved in the upregulation of the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC class I), which has recently been shown to play an important role in the synaptic plasticity process following axotomy. There is also evidence that IFN\u03b3 may interfere in the differentiation and survival of neuronal cells. However, little is known about the effects of IFN\u03b3 absence on spinal cord neurons after injury.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>We performed a unilateral sciatic nerve transection injury in C57BL\/6J (wild type) and IFN\u03b3-KO (mutant) mice and studied motoneuron morphology using light and electron microscopy. One week after the lesion, mice from both strains were sacrificed and had their lumbar spinal cords processed for histochemistry (n = 5 each group) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM, n = 5 each group). Spinal cord sections from non-lesioned animals were also used to investigate neuronal survival and the presence of apoptosis with TUNEL and immunohistochemistry.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>We find that presumed motoneurons in the lower lumbar ventral horn exhibited a smaller soma size in the IFN\u03b3-KO series, regardless of nerve lesion. In plastic embedded sections stained with toluidine blue, the IFN\u03b3-KO mice demonstrated a greater proportion of degenerating neurons in the ventral horn when compared to the control series (p &lt; 0.05). Apoptotic death is suggested based on TUNEL and caspase 3 immunostaining. A sciatic nerve axotomy did not further aggravate the neuronal loss. The cellular changes were supported by electron microscopy, which demonstrated ventral horn neurons exhibiting intracellular vacuoles as well as degenerating nuclei and cytoplasm in the IFN\u03b3-KO mice. Adjacent glial cells showed features suggestive of phagocytosis. Additional ultrastructural studies showed a decreased number of pre-synaptic terminals apposing to motoneurons in mutant mice. Nevertheless, no statistical difference regarding the input covering could be detected among the studied strains.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>Altogether, these results suggest that IFN\u03b3 may be neuroprotective and its absence results in neuronal death, which is not further increased by peripheral axotomy.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/1742-2094-7-77","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2010,11,12]],"date-time":"2010-11-12T19:15:57Z","timestamp":1289589357000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":27,"title":["Absence of IFN\u03b3 expression induces neuronal degeneration in the spinal cord of adult mice"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Sheila CS","family":"Vict\u00f3rio","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leif A","family":"Havton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexandre LR","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2010,11,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"289_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3870","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.09-11-03870.1989","volume":"9","author":"T Olsson","year":"1989","unstructured":"Olsson T, Kristensson K, Ljundahl \u00c5, Maehlen J, Holmdahl R, Klareskog L: Gamma-interferon-like immunireactivity in axotomized rat motor neurons. 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