Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and electroacupuncture downregulate the inhibitor molecules and promote the axonal regeneration in the transected spinal cord of rats.
Our previous study has reported that electroacupuncture (EA) promotes survival, differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and functional improvement in spinal cord-transected rats. In this study, we further investigated the structural bases of this functional improvement  and the potential mechanisms of axonal regeneration in injured spinal cord after MSCs and EA treatment. Five experimental groups, 1) sham control (Sham-control); 2) operated control (Op-control); 3) electroacupuncture treatment (EA); 4) MSCs transplantation (MSCs), and 5) MSCs transplantation  combined with electroacupuncture (MSCs + EA), were designed for this study. Western blots and immunohistochemical staining were used to assess the fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) proteins expression. Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan (BBB) locomotion  test, cortical motor evoked potentials (MEPs), and anterograde and retrograde tracing were utilized to assess cortical-spinal neuronal projection regeneration and functional recovery. In the MSCs + EA group, increased labeling descending corticospinal tract (CST) projections into the lesion  site showed significantly improved BBB scales and enhanced motor evoked potentials after 10 weeks of MSCs transplant and EA treatment. The structural and functional recovery after MSCs + EA treatment may be due to downregulated GFAP and CSPGs protein expression, which prevented axonal degeneration  as well as improved axonal regeneration.
Ding
Ying
Y
Division of Neuroscience, Department of Histology and Embryology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Yan
Qing
Q
Ruan
Jing-Wen
JW
Zhang
Yan-Qing
YQ
Li
Wen-Jie
WJ
Zeng
Xiang
X
Huang
Si-Fan
SF
Zhang
Yu-Jiao
YJ
Wang
Shirlene
S
Dong
Hongxin
H
Zeng
Yuan-Shan
YS
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015536:Down-Regulation; D015671:Electroacupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D016019:Survival Analysis
D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein