Effects of Treadmill Exercise after Bone Marrow Stromal Cells Transplantation Down-regulated Expression of Apoptosis-related Proteins in the Injured Spinal Cord

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.