Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on motor function recovery, neurotrophic factor expression and PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling pathway in rats with spinal injury. Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group and BMSCs group. After the spinal injury model was established in the model group and the BMSCs group, the BMSCs group was locally injected with BMSCs suspension, and the normal group and the model group were injected with the same amount of normal saline. BBB score and inclined plate test were used to evaluate the behavioral function. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe the histopathological changes. The levels of serum neurotrophic factor-3 (NT-3), nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression levels of pathway proteins were detected by Western blotting. The results showed that compared with the model group, BMSCs treatment significantly improved the motor function score and inclined plate angle of rats, reduced edema, necrosis and inflammatory response of spinal cord tissue, and up-regulated the level of neurotrophic factors and the expression of PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway protein. The results showed that BMSCs transplantation could promote the release of neurotrophic factors by activating the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway, thereby improving the recovery of motor function after spinal injury. Motor dysfunction and insufficient nerve repair after spinal injury are clinical problems. This study focused on the repair effect of BMSCs, explored its effect on the recovery of motor function and the expression of neurotrophic factors in rats, and the regulatory mechanism of PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway, so as to provide experimental basis for revealing the neural repair potential of BMSCs and developing targeted therapy strategies for spinal injury.
Key words: bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; spinal injury; motor function; neurotrophic factor; pI3K/AKT/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway
（Acta Laser Biology Sinica, 2025, 34(6): 569-576）