Effects of rehabilitation training combined with bone marrow mesenchymai stem cell-derived neural stem cells transplantation on the expression of Nogo-A and NgR proteins after spinal cord injury / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effects of rehabilitation training combined with the transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells-derived neural stem cells (BMSC-D-NSCs) on the expression of Nogo-A and NgR protein in rats after spinal cord injury (SCI).Methods The spinal cords of eighty Sprague-Dawley rats were injured using a modified Allen′s impactor (H = 25 mm) at T10. The injured rats were randomly divided into a combination therapy group which was given rehabilitation training and cell transplants, a cell graft group, a rehabilitation training group and a control group. At the 7th day post SCI, BMSC-D-NSCs were transplanted into the injured spinal cords of the rats in the combination therapy and cell graft groups. Hindlimb movement was assessed using the BassoBeattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scale every week, and protein was extracted from the injured spinal cord tissue for Nogo-A and NgR determination by Western blotting at the 1st, 3rd and 7th day after cell transplantation.Results The average BBB score of the rats in the combination therapy group was significantly higher than that of the other groups from 2 weeks post transplantation. The scores in the rehabilitation training group were significantly higher than in the control group from the 5th week post transplantation. Western blotting showed high expression of Nogo-A and NgR protein 24 h post surgery, but these declined with time. For Nogo-A there was a significant difference among the groups at all three time points. In the combination therapy group the expression declined to a minimum by the 7th day. For NgR protein there was no significant difference between the 1st and 3rd day in any group.Conclusions Rehabilitation training combined with BMSC-D-NSC transplantation can have a synergistic effect on functional recovery from SCI. It can down regulate the expression of Nogo-A and NgR protein.