Transcriptional Pathways Associated with Skeletal Muscle Changes after Spinal Cord Injury and Treadmill Locomotor Training

Figure 8

Schematic of the changes in soleus muscle gene expression within the TGFβ and BMP pathways, with SCI (a) and acute response to treadmill training (b). Panel (a) shows the combined changes observed on day 3 and 8 after SCI, where several Smads (Smads 3, 4, and 1/5) and Fst gene expression was increased compared to control in parallel with muscle atrophy. Panel (b) summarizes the changes observed 8 days after SCI after 3 sessions of treadmill training compared to untrained animals. The changes in Smad3 and Fst were reversed, and Bmpr2 expression was increased, suggesting a role for the BMP pathway in the initiation of muscle mass recovery process observed with treadmill training.

(a)

(b)