Effects of Intravenous Administration of Human Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells in 3-Acetylpyridine-Lesioned Rats

Figure 7

HuUCBMCs grafts upregulate Bcl-2 and phospho-Akt protein levels in the cerebellum and brain stem of 3-AP ataxic rats. HuUCBMCs transplantation raises the ratio Bcl2/Bax in the cerebellum of 3-AP-lesioned rats (a, black bars). Note how this effect is due to an increase in the expression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 (a1). HuUCBMCs also upregulate the ratio phospho-Akt/Akt in the cerebellum and brain stem of 3-AP ataxic rats (b, black bars). In both structures cell transplantation significantly enhances phospho-Akt levels (b1, b2), which is a protein involved in neuronal survival. (a1) and (a2) show representative blots for Bcl-2 and Bax, and (b1) and (b2) for phospho-Akt and Akt in the cerebellum (a1, b1) and brain stem (a2, b2). Lane 1: naïve rats (control); lane 2: 3-AP-lesioned rats treated with vehicle (3-AP + vehicle); lane 3: 3-AP-lesioned rats treated with HuUCBMCs grafts (3-AP + cells). Results represent the mean ± SEM of 9 to 15 individual animals. ^∗𝑃≤0.05, ^∗∗𝑃≤0.01 versus naïve rats, ⁺𝑃≤0.05, ⁺⁺𝑃≤0.01, ⁺⁺⁺𝑃≤0.001 versus 3-AP + vehicle rats.