Abstract: Objective To study the effect of Heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) and adipose-derived stem cell (ADSC) transplantation on expression of caspase3 and function recovery after acellular nerve allograft repair of the sciatic nerve gap in mice. Methods A total of 30 healthy C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into ANA group, ADSC group and Hsp27+ADSC group. The sciatic functions index (SFI), electrophysiology and the rate of tibialis anterior muscle wet weight were used to evaluate nerve regeneration and functional recovery. Observe the protein expression of ChAT and the fluorescence signal of ADSC labeled with PKH-26 in the nerve graft by using immunofluorescence. Results Compared with ANA group, the expression of HSP27 protein, the number of ChAT labeled motor axon and PKH-26 labeled ADSC in Hsp27+ADSC group were increased, however, the expression of caspase protein was decreased (P＜0.05). Compared with ANA group, SFI, nerve conduction velocity ,wave amplitude, rate of tibialis anterior wet muscle weight were significantly increased in ADSC group and Hsp27+ADSC group (P＜0.05), however, incubation period were significantly decreased in two treatment group (P＜0.05), moreover, the effect of Hsp27+ADSC group was more powerful than ADSC group (P＜0.05). Conclusion The combined Hsp27 and ADSC transplantation treatment promoted motor axon regeneration and function recovery significantly more than ADSC treatments, which may be related with HSP27 inhabited caspase3 apoptotic signaling pathway, and promoted the survival of the transplanted ADSC.

Key words: HSP27, Adipose-derived stem cell, Acellular nerve allograft, Motor axon regeneration