| Keywords |
Treadmill exercise ; Bone marrow stromal cell ; Apoptosis-related proteins ; Spinal cord ; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor |
| Abstract |
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of treadmill exercise and bone marrow stromal cell(BMSC) transplantation on expression of apoptosis-related proteins in the spinal cord injury(SCI). SCI was induced using a compactor by dropping a 10-g impactor from a height of 25mm onto the exposed dura.BMSC transplantation was performed immediately after SCI. The rats were divided into the sham operation group(n=8), SCI and PBS injection group(n=8), SCI and BMSCs transplantation group(n=8), and SCI and BMSCs transplantation and treadmill exercise group(n=8). We carried out western blot analysis to investigate induction levels of apoptosis- and cell survival-related proteins within the injury area of the contused spinal cord. Bax and caspase-3 involved in apoptosis were further increased in both SCI+BMSC transplantation and SCI+BMSC transplatation+exericse groups when compared to SCI+PBS group. BMSC grafting and BMSC grafting+exercise groups significantly increased expression levels of antiapoptosis-related Bcl-2 and BDNF proteins within the injury area. Our data imply that treadmill exercise after BMSC transplantation may be an important mediator and/or therapeutic approach for regulating expression rate of apoptosisand anti-apoptosis-related proteins into the injury site after SCI. |