Effect of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Transplantation on Caspase-3 Expression in Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

Objective To observe the distribution of intravenously transplanted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs),and their effects on neurological functions and the expression of apoptosis-related caspase-3 protein in cerebral ischemic rats.Methods BMSCs from SD rats were cultivated and proliferated in vitro,labeled with fluorescent dye CFSE.SD rats were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO) for 2 hours and reperfusion.The rats were killed at different time points.The distribution of BMSCs was examined with fluorescence microscopy and the effects on caspase-3 protein expression by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).Results The neurological functions of transplantation group were significantly superior to those of control group on the day 6 after transplantation(P0.05).At hour 3,12,24,48,72 after transplantation,the immunohistochemically positive target area density of caspase-3 was(1.34±0.31)%,(3.98±0.67)%,(5.58±0.92)%,(4.65±0.69) %,and(3.51±0.63)%,respectively.Those of the control group were(2.09±0.19)%,(5.23±0.30)%,(6.89±0.57)%,(5.93±0.56)%,and(4.39±0.57)%,respectively.The transplantation group was significantly superior to those of control group(P0.05);At the hour 6 and on the day 7 after transplantation,the positive target area density of caspase-3 was(2.81±0.35)% and(1.64±0.29)%,respectively,those of the control group were(3.92±0.44)% and(2.29±0.21)%,respectively,the transplantation group was very significantly better than those of control group(P0.01);The expression of caspase-3 was significantly reduced at different time points(P0.05,P0.01).The relative content of caspase-3 mRNA from rat ischemic cortex of transplantation group was very significantly lower than those of control group(P0.01).Conclusion Intravemous transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can improve the neurological functions.It is probably that the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells exert protective effects on cerebral ischemia and reperfusion injury by down-regulating caspase-3 expression.