Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation promotes motor function recovery in mice after spinal cord injury via regulation of the Cx43-autophagy loop

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe condition that results in the loss of motor, sensory, and autonomic nerve functions. This study explores how high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can help restore motor function after SCI. The researchers used mice with a complete spinal cord transection and treated them with daily high-frequency TMS. They found that TMS can restore hindlimb motor function by regulating the Cx43-autophagy loop and activating the mTOR signalling pathway. The study suggests that TMS decreases Cx43 expression in astrocytes, which in turn regulates autophagic flux and promotes motor function recovery. This finding offers a new understanding of how magnetic stimulation therapy might help treat spinal cord injury.

• 1
  High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) significantly reduces Cx43 expression on astrocytes.
• 2
  HF-rTMS treatment significantly increased the LC3II and p62 expression levels in astrocytes, indicating that Cx43 may play a role in regulating autophagic flux.
• 3
  HF-rTMS can inhibit the expression of CX43, which negatively regulates autophagic flux and that HF-rTMS increased the expression levels of mTOR, p-mTOR and p-S6.