Fig. 4

EA treatment increased the pain threshold and inhibited abnormal dendritic spine remodeling in spinal dorsal horn neurons in rats with SNL, whereas the use of srGAP3 siRNA reversed the effects of EA. A, B Representative Western blots and quantitative analysis of srGAP3/GAPDH expression. n = 5. Columns represent the mean ± SD. ^##p < 0.01 vs. the SNL + siNC group. C The effects of siRNAs on the expression of srGAP3 mRNA examined by qRT–PCR. n = 5. Columns represent the mean ± SD. ^##p < 0.01 vs. the SNL + siNC group. D Schematic diagram of the experimental process. E Mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT). n = 15. ^$$p < 0.01 vs. the SNL group, ^&&p < 0.01 vs. the SNL + EA group, ^**p < 0.01 vs. the SNL + siNC group. F Thermal withdrawal latency (TWL). n = 15. ^$$p < 0.01 vs. the SNL group. G Dendritic spines. Scale bars, 10 μm. H, I Five neurons were randomly selected from the dorsal horn of the spinal cord of each rat, and 20 to 30 dendritic spines were randomly selected from each neuron, and the lengths and head diameters of dendritic spines were measured. n = 4. J Number of spines per 10 μm. n = 4. K Number of thin spines per 10 μm. n = 4. L Number of mushroom spines per 10 μm. n = 4. ^$p < 0.05, ^$$p < 0.01 vs. the SNL group, ^&&p < 0.01 vs. the SNL + EA group, ^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01 vs the SNL + siNC group