HUC-MSCs Inhibit the Expression of Cx43 Through JNK Pathway to Improve Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Damage |Biomedgrid

Background: Hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) always causes neonatal death and long-term neural system diseases. Previous studies showed that human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) could play a protective role in HIBD, but the specific mechanism is unclear. Connexin 43 (Cx43) widely spreads in the central nervous system, especially in astrocytes. Cx43 is also an important component of gap junctions and half channels, which involves maintaining the dynamic balance of the brain environment. The change of Cx43 expression was shown to be closely related to the occurrence and development of neural system diseases. We speculate the protective effect of hUC-MSCs transplantation of HIBD may be achieved by adjusting the expression of Cx43.