Mechanical stress regulates autophagic flux to affect apoptosis after spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to increased mechanical stress, worsening nerve tissue damage and function. Decompression surgery is a common treatment, but how it works isn't fully understood. This study looks at how decompression affects intramedullary pressure (IMP) and autophagy, a cellular cleaning process, after SCI. The study found that decompression, especially piotomy (a specific surgical technique), reduces IMP, promotes autophagy, and reduces apoptosis (cell death). Blocking autophagy with chloroquine (CQ) reversed some of these benefits, suggesting autophagy plays a key role in the protective effects of decompression. The researchers also found that decompression may reverse the increase in certain proteins (p-PI3K, p-AKT, and p-mTOR) caused by SCI. These proteins are involved in cell signaling pathways that regulate autophagy and cell survival. These findings help explain how decompression works and how mechanical stress affects autophagy after SCI.

• 1
  Decompression reduces intramedullary pressure (IMP) after spinal cord injury (SCI), with piotomy showing the most significant decrease.
• 2
  Decompression restores autophagic flux after SCI, while CQ impairs autophagic flux.
• 3
  CQ administration partially reversed apoptosis alleviation and structural damage alleviation caused by decompression after SCI.