Int.J.Mol.Sci.2013,14,6074-6089;doi:10.3390/ijms14036074OPENACCESSInternationalJournalofMolecularSciencesISSN1422-0067www.mdpi.com/journal/ijmsArticleEarlyExerciseProtectsagainstCerebralIschemicInjurythroughInhibitingNeuronApoptosisinCortexinRatsPengyueZhang1,2,†,*,YulingZhang2,†,JieZhang1,3,YiWu2,JieJia2,JunfaWu2andYongshanHu2,*1MedicalFaculty,KunmingUniversityofScienceandTechnology,Kunming650500,China;E-Mail:kmzhjie@yahoo.cn(J.Z.)2DepartmentofRehabilitation,HuashanHospital,FudanUniversity,Shanghai200040,China;E-Mails:zhangyuling1982@hotmail.com(Y.Z.);wuyi3000@yahoo.com.cn(Y.W.);shannonjj@126.com(J.J.);junfawu2002@yahoo.com.cn(J.W.)3YunnanProvincialKeyLaboratoryforBirthDefectsandGeneticDiseases,GeneticDiagnosisCenter,theFirstPeople’sHospitalofYunnanProvince,Kunming650032,China†Theseauthorscontributedequallytothiswork.*Authorstowhomcorrespondenceshouldbeaddressed;E-Mails:zpy19802000@yahoo.com.cn(P.Z.);dr_huys@yahoo.com.cn(Y.H.);Tel./Fax:+86-21-5288-7820(Y.H.).Received:14January2013;inrevisedform:3February2013/Accepted:28February2013/Published:15March2013Abstract:Earlyexerciseisaneffectivestrategyforstroketreatment,buttheunderlyingmechanismremainspoorlyunderstood.Apoptosisplaysacriticalroleafterstroke.However,itisunclearwhetherearlyexerciseinhibitsapoptosisafterstroke.Thepresentstudyinvestigatedtheeffectofearlyexerciseonapoptosisinducedbyischemia.AdultSDratsweresubjectedtotransientfocalcerebralischemiabymiddlecerebralarteryocclusionmodel(MCAO)andwererandomlydividedintoearlyexercisegroup,non-exercisegroupandshamgroup.Earlyexercisegroupreceivedforcedtreadmilltraininginitiatedat24hafteroperation.Fourteendayslater,thecellapoptosisweredetectedbyTdT-mediateddUTP-biotinnick-endlabeling(TUNEL)andFluoro-Jade-Bstaining(F-J-B).Caspase-3,cleavedcaspase-3andBcl-2weredeterminedbywesternblotting.Cerebralinfarctvolumeandmotorfunctionwereevaluatedbycresylvioletstainingandfootfaulttestrespectively.Theresultsshowedthatearlyexercisedecreasedthenu