Assessments of Gliogenesis After Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in a large proliferative response that serves to restore homeostatis and replenish cellular deficits. Postinjury repair and recovery can be interrogated as a function of the cell fates adopted by progenitors within the lesion. Administration of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) (by ip injection) and/or a recombinant retrovirus (by intraspinal injection) is used routinely to label progenitors in an injured spinal cord. In combination with immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy assesses the progeny of labeled-progenitors. Colocalization of phenotypic markers with BrdU or retroviral-reporters is used to determine the differentiation profile of progenitors to assess gliogenesis after SCI. This chapter introduces a brief history of labeling proliferative cells, required materials and tools to phenotype progeny, typical procedures, and variations.