Calpain inhibitor attenuates ER stress-induced apoptosis in injured spinal cord after bone mesenchymal stem cells transplantation

• MDL28170 protected BMSCs survival after transplantation to the injured spinal cord.
• MDL28170 rescued BMSCs by inhibiting the ER stress-induced apoptosis.
• We propose a new strategie for using MDL28170 with BMSCs in the therapy of injured spinal cord.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) therapy for tissue repair is limited by low survival of cells transplanted in the recipient sites after spinal cord injury (SCI). Here, we investigated the effects of a calpain inhibitor (MDL28170) on BMSCs survival by a rat model of spinal cord injury in vitro and in vivo. Conditioned medium from hypoxia injured VSC4.1 motor neurons (Hypoxia-CM) were collected to mimic the micro-environment of injured spinal cord. Tunicamycin was also applied to induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in BMSCs. The CCK-8 assay, LDH leakage assay and flow cytometer assay demonstrated that MDL28170 could enhance BMSCs survival in response to Hypoxia-CM and tunicamycin. Moreover, MDL28170 significantly enhanced GFP-positive BMSCs survival in vivo after transplantation into the contused spinal cord of SCI rats. The protective effects of MDL28170 on BMSCs survival may inhibit the activation of calpain and the downstream ER stress-induced apoptosis. The present results suggested for the first time that MDL28170 with BMSCs transplant helped to rescue cells in injured spinal cord by modulating the ER stress-induced apoptosis. The calpain inhibitor, MDL28170 may have the promising new strategies for promoting the survival of transplanted BMSCs on cell-based regenerative medicine.