Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway in the Cerebral Cortex and Hippocampus of Rats / 中国运动医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the effect of aerobic exercise on Wnt/β-Catenin pathway in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of rats,so as to provide theoretical basis for conforming that aerobic exercise can improve the function of the nervous system.Methods Six-week-old Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly assigned to a sedentary control group (CG) and an aerobic exercise group (EG).The rats in the EG group underwent an 8-week treadmill training and their cerebral cortex and hippocampus were isolated at 48h after the last exercise.The mRNA levels of Wnt,β-Catenin,LRP5,LRP6,Axin1,CK1 and GSK3β were analyzed using quantitative PCR,while the protein and phosphorylation levels were assayed using Western blotting.Results After 8 weeks of treadmill exercise,the average mRNA and protein levels of Wnt1 and Wnt3 in the EG group were significantly higher than those in the CG group.Although there were no significant differences in β-Catenin mRNA levels between EG and CG groups,the protein levels of β-Catenin in the EG group were significantly higher than those in the CG group.Meanwhile,the phosphorylation levels of β-Catenin Ser33/Ser37 and Thr41/Ser45 were significantly lower than those in the CG group.In the EG group,the mRNA and protein levels of LRP5 and LRP6 were significantly higher than those in the CG group,while those of Axin1 and CK1 were significantly lower than the CG group.Moreover,no significant differences were observed in the mRNA and protein levels of GSK3β between the two groups,but the phosphorylation levels of GSK3β Ser9 in the EG group were significantly higher than the CG group.Conclusion Aerobic exercises can increase the levels of Wnt and Wnt receptor,protein LRP5 and LRP6,decrease the levels of Axin1 and CK1,inhibit the activity of GSK3β,altogether lowering the pbosphorylation of β-Catenin to promote the stableness of β-Catenin.Therefore,the aerobic exercise can increase Wnt/β-Catenin pathway activity and activate the downstream gene transcription in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of rats.