title: Upregulated Ras/Raf/ERK1/2 signaling pathway: a new hope in the repair of spinal cord injury.
abstract: An increasing number of studies report that the Ras/Raf/extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling pathway has a death-promoting apoptotic function in neural cells. We hypothesized that the Ras/Raf/ERK1/2 signaling pathway may be abnormally regulated in rat injured spinal cord models. The weight drop method was used to establish rat spinal cord injury at T9. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining revealed Ras expression was dramatically elevated, and the phosphorylations of A-Raf, B-Raf and C-Raf were all upregulated in the injured spinal cord. Both mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2 and ERK1/2, which belong to the Ras/Raf signaling kinases, were upregulated. These results indicate that Ras/Raf/ERK1/2 signaling may be upregulated in injured spinal cord and are involved in recovery after spinal cord injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Fu-Jiang
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Dong-Dong
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Yun-Qiang
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Shi-Qing
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Feng
keywords: Ras/Raf/Erk1/2 signaling pathway; apoptosis; inhibition; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; regulation; repair; spinal cord injury