Enriched environments promote synaptic remodeling in the hippocampus by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore how an enriched environment promotes synaptic remodeling in the hippocampus after cerebral ischemia.Methods:Among 60 clean, adult, male C57BL/6 mice, 16 were randomly selected into a sham operation group, while the remaining 44 underwent permanent left middle cerebral artery embolization. The 32 mice with successful modeling were randomly divided into a normal environment group and an enriched environment group, each of 16. The enriched environment group lived in an enriched environment for 28 days, while the other two groups were raised in normal conditions. The number of synapses in the CA3 area of the hippocampus was then measured using transmission electron microscopy, and the expression of Wnt7a, Dvl1, β-catenin, synaptophysin (SYN) and PSD-95 in the hippocampus were measured using western blotting.Results:Compared with the normal environment group, the average protein expression levels of Wnt7a, Dvl1, β-catenin, SYN and PSD-95 were all significantly higher in the enriched environment group. The number of synapses in the CA3 region of the enriched environment group was also significantly higher than in the normal environment group.Conclusion:An enriched environment can activate the Wnt7a-β-catenin-Dvl1 signaling pathway in the hippocampus after cerebral ischemia to promote synaptic remodeling, at least in mice.