Pregnant C57BL/6 mouse was purchased from Laboratory Animal Center of Xinxiang Medical University. pregnant mouse was anesthetized with CO2 and sacrificed by cervical dislocation at embryonic day 15. All embryos were separated from pregnant mouse under aseptic conditions. Under dissection microscope, each embryo was quickly killed by cervical dislocation, and the spinal cord was isolated. The membrane of the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion was removed from the spinal cord applying microforceps. Subsequently, the spinal cord was quickly cut into small pieces (1 mm³) using ultrafine microscissors.

Total of 50 C57BL/6J adult mice (males, average weight of 20 g, 8 weeks of age) were acquired from Charles River (Beijing, China). In brief, ketamine (80 mg/kg) was utilized to anesthetize mice before the skin was prepared for disinfection, and then the back skin was incised to expose the lamina at T10. Finally, a moderate contusion (5 g x 5 cm) was created by an impactor (RWD, Shenzhen, China). Spinal cord hemorrhage, hindlimb extension, and delayed paralysis suggest successful modeling. Only laminectomy was performed in the Sham group.

Female C57BL/6 mice (10-12 weeks old, weighing 24-26 g) were used in this study. Mice were randomly assigned to the following groups: (1) Sham group, subjected to laminectomy operation; (2) SCI group, which underwent SCI with intraperitoneal injection (i.p.) of saline; (3) PACs5 group (5 mg/kg PACs), which underwent SCI with i.p. of 5 mg/kg PACs solved in saline; (4) PACs10 group (10 mg/kg PACs), which underwent SCI with i.p. of 10 mg/kg PACs solutions.

Female Wistar rats (n = 120) weighing 240 ± 10 g were purchased from Laboratory Animal Center of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences (Beijing, China). To optimize the SRS 16-86 dose, 20 animals were divided into five groups to test the locomotor recovery at 2 weeks after SCI (n = 4 per group, Sham, SCI-vehicle, 5 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg and 15 mg/kg of SRS 16-86 intraperitoneally). According to the two week preliminary experiments, the dose of 15 mg/kg SRS 16-86 was used in the following experiments. For the TEM observation, 15 animals were divided into five groups (n = 3, Sham, SCI-15min, SCI-1 h, SCI 4 h and SCI 24 h to see the mitochondria changes. Another 9 animals were assigned to detect the TEM of spinal cord at 24 h post injury (n = 3 per group, Sham, SCI-vehicle and SCI-SRS 16-86). 18 animals were used (n = 6 per group, Sham, SCI-vehicle and SCI-SRS 16-86) to observe the hindlimb function at 1 d, 7 d, 14 d, 28 d, 42 d and 56 d after SCI.

Forty female Sprague-Dawley rats (200-300 g, 8 weeks old) were purchased from the Animal Experiment Center of Fudan University. Forty rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham operation group (n = 10), SCI group (n = 10), SCI + ferroptosis inhibitor group (SCI + ferrostatin1) (n = 10), and SCI + DHODH Inhibitor group (SCI + teriflunomide) (n = 10). Ten rats in the sham group only received laminectomy without SCI. To induce spinal cord injury, spinal cord injury surgery was performed in the middle thoracic region of rats (T8-T9).

Forty female Sprague-Dawley rats (200-300 g, 8 weeks old) were purchased from the Animal Experiment Center of Fudan University. Forty rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham operation group (n = 10), SCI group (n = 10), SCI + ferroptosis inhibitor group (SCI + ferrostatin1) (n = 10), and SCI + DHODH Inhibitor group (SCI + teriflunomide) (n = 10). Ten rats in the sham group only received laminectomy without SCI. To induce spinal cord injury, spinal cord injury surgery was performed in the middle thoracic region of rats (T8-T9).

Forty female Sprague-Dawley rats (200-300 g, 8 weeks old) were purchased from the Animal Experiment Center of Fudan University. Forty rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham operation group (n = 10), SCI group (n = 10), SCI + ferroptosis inhibitor group (SCI + ferrostatin1) (n = 10), and SCI + DHODH Inhibitor group (SCI + teriflunomide) (n = 10). Ten rats in the sham group only received laminectomy without SCI. To induce spinal cord injury, spinal cord injury surgery was performed in the middle thoracic region of rats (T8-T9).

The rats were initially anesthetized with 5% isoflurane (RWD life science, Shenzhen, China) and then maintained with 22.5% isoflurane. A 1-cm midline incision was made over the thoracic vertebrae, and laminectomy on T10 and the caudal half of T9 vertebrae was performed. Spinal cord contusion injury was conducted by NYU Impactor Model III (W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, United States) using a 10-g node dropping freely from a height of 2.5 cm and muscles and skin sutured in layers. Sham controls underwent laminectomy without the contusion. To prevent infection at the incision, cefuroxime sodium was applied for 3 days after injury. The bladders were emptied manually twice daily in the first week after injury.

The rats were initially anesthetized with 5% isoflurane (RWD life science, Shenzhen, China) and then maintained with 22.5% isoflurane. A 1-cm midline incision was made over the thoracic vertebrae, and laminectomy on T10 and the caudal half of T9 vertebrae was performed. Spinal cord contusion injury was conducted by NYU Impactor Model III (W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, United States) using a 10-g node dropping freely from a height of 2.5 cm and muscles and skin sutured in layers. Sham controls underwent laminectomy without the contusion. To prevent infection at the incision, cefuroxime sodium was applied for 3 days after injury. The bladders were emptied manually twice daily in the first week after injury.

The rats were initially anesthetized with 5% isoflurane (RWD life science, Shenzhen, China) and then maintained with 22.5% isoflurane. A 1-cm midline incision was made over the thoracic vertebrae, and laminectomy on T10 and the caudal half of T9 vertebrae was performed. Spinal cord contusion injury was conducted by NYU Impactor Model III (W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, United States) using a 10-g node dropping freely from a height of 2.5 cm and muscles and skin sutured in layers. Sham controls underwent laminectomy without the contusion. To prevent infection at the incision, cefuroxime sodium was applied for 3 days after injury. The bladders were emptied manually twice daily in the first week after injury.

Forty-eight adult female Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200-220 g were purchased from Hunan SJA Laboratory Animal Co., Ltd. (Hunan, China) and divided into the following eight groups: sham (n = 6), SCI (n = 6), SCI + lentivirus (LV)-negative control 1 (NC1) (n = 6), SCI + LV-HMOX-1 (n = 6), SCI + LV-NC2 (n = 6), SCI + LV-USP7 (n = 6), SCI + LV-USP7 + sh-NC (n = 6), and SCI + LV-USP7 + sh-HMOX-1 (n = 6) groups. One week after animal adaptation and 30 min before operation, a subcutaneous injection of buprenorphine (0.05 mg/kg) was administered to the rats, along with inhalation of 5% isoflurane and an intraperitoneal injection of ketamine (75 mg/kg) and thiazide (10 mg/kg).

Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200-220 g were purchased from the Animal Center of the Medical Department of Xi'an Jiaotong University. The rats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of 1% pentobarbital sodium (50 mg/kg), and the spines of the rats were fixed. The skin of T9-12 level was incised, and laminectomy was performed at the T10 level to expose the spinal cord. The rats were then placed in the appropriate position of the impactor so that 10 g of rod fell freely at a height of 3 cm and hit the center of the T10 level of the spinal cord. The signs of successful establishment of the model were the appearance of hind limb extension and tail-flick reflex in rats. Laminectomy was performed only in the sham-operated group. The rats in the SCI group received an artificial bladder massage twice a day to assist in urination until they were able to urinate.

Male C57BL/6 (7-8 weeks) were purchased from the Animal Center of Nanjing University (Nanjing, China) and housed in the condition with controlled temperature and humidity under a 12-h light/dark circadian rhythm. For determining the effects of MSCs-exo, the animals were derived into three groups: sham (n = 10), ASCI (n = 10), ASCI + MSCs (n = 10); for determining the effects of exosomal lncGm36569, the animals were divided into five groups: sham (n = 10), ASCI (n = 10), ASCI + MSC-Exo (ctrl) (n = 10), ASCI + MSCs-Exo (lnc-OE) (n =10), ASCI + MSCs-Exo (si-lnc) (n = 10).

Male C57BL/6 (7-8 weeks) were purchased from the Animal Center of Nanjing University (Nanjing, China) and housed in the condition with controlled temperature and humidity under a 12-h light/dark circadian rhythm. For determining the effects of MSCs-exo, the animals were derived into three groups: sham (n = 10), ASCI (n = 10), ASCI + MSCs (n = 10); for determining the effects of exosomal lncGm36569, the animals were divided into five groups: sham (n = 10), ASCI (n = 10), ASCI + MSC-Exo (ctrl) (n = 10), ASCI + MSCs-Exo (lnc-OE) (n =10), ASCI + MSCs-Exo (si-lnc) (n = 10).

The mouse SCIRI model was established in 6- to 8-week-old C57BL/6 male mice. Mice were anesthetized by isoflurane inhalation and fixed in a supine position, and a midline abdominal incision method was used. After positioning of the left kidney through the peritoneum, we carefully searched for and separated the abdominal aorta along the left renal artery. The abdominal aorta was clamped under the exit of the left renal artery (which was not clamped in sham-operated mice). After 60 min, the aneurysm clip was removed and blood perfusion was restored. After the operation, the mice were placed in a cage alone and kept warm, and the bladder was massaged once every 8 h until the bladder reflex was restored.