脊髓损伤后神经干细胞的激活及分化对于损伤后功能修复具有重要作用。如何促进损伤后神经干细胞激活及促进向神经元分化是本领域的重要课题。根据文献报道，Emx2对脑神经干细胞的增殖及脑海马区的发育发挥重要作用，而对脊髓神经干细胞增殖和分化的作用目前尚未清楚。我们前期结果发现，在大鼠脊髓神经干细胞中过表达Emx2可以促进其增殖，且向神经元分化的效率也得到提高。此外，Emx2的表达在脊髓神经干细胞分化过程中降低。RNA-Seq指出脊髓损伤3天后，即神经干细胞激活上升期，Emx2的表达升高。我们推测Emx2对脊髓神经干细胞的增殖可能具有促进作用，对神经干细胞的分化也可能发挥重要作用。本研究中我们制作大鼠胸段脊髓全横断模型，采用RNA-Seq、QPCR、Western Blot、免疫荧光等技术，阐明Emx2在脊髓损伤后的表达模式和对脊髓损伤后神经干细胞的激活和分化等的作用，为脊髓损伤治疗提供了新思路。

Activation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) play important roles on functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). In this field, how to promote spinal cord NSCs activation and differentiation into neurons is an important topic. According to previous reports, Emx2 is critical for brain NSC proliferation and development of hippocampus; however, it is not clear about the roles of Emx2 on spinal cord NSCs during proliferation and differentiation. Our preliminary results showed that Emx2 overexpression in spinal cord NSCs of rats promoted cell proliferation as well as the efficiency of differentiation into neurons. In addition, expression of Emx2 decreased during the differentiation process of spinal cord NSCs. RNA-Seq showed that expression of Emx2 increased 3 days after SCI, and that activation of the spinal cord NSCs was enhanced. In this proposal, we will establish complete thoracic SCI rat models and employ techniques such as RNA-Seq, QPCR, western blot and immunofluorescence to investigate the expression patterns of Emx2 and the roles of Emx2 in spinal cord NSC activation and differentiation after SCI. The proposed study may offer a new solution for SCI treatment.