{
  "abstract": "Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) describes any damage to the spinal cord that results in a loss of function. With these injuries being commonly treated with subsequent treadmill training (TM), this study aimed to reveal the mechanisms facilitating TM-mediated rehabilitation following a SCI.\n\nMethods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and then subjected to a weighted gene co-expression network analysis to identify TM-associated modules. Co-expression network construction, functional annotation, protein–protein interaction (PPI) network, and transcription factor (TF)-miRNA-target regulatory network were then conducted. We established an SCI rat model and validated key RNAs using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Predicted interactions between miR-135a-5p and JAK2 and STAT1 were tested using dual-luciferase reporter assay.\n\nResults: Total 640 and 877 genes separately differentially expressed in SCI 8d + TM vs. SCI 8d and SCI 14d + TM vs. SCI 14d comparison groups were screened and merged as the DEGs, which were further narrowed to four TM-associated modules linked to the glutamatergic synapse and ribosome biogenesis pathways. PPI network evaluations identified v-Akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog 1 (AKT1), Janus kinase 2 (JAK2), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) as hub nodes. JAK2 and STAT1 were also shown to have interactions in module b. TF-miRNA-target regulatory network revealed that both STAT1 and JAK2 were targets of miR-135a. RT-qPCR results confirmed upregulation of AKT1 and STAT1 and downregulation of JAK2 , TNF and miR-135a after TM. Dual-luciferase reporter assays revealed the direct binding of miR-135a-5p to JAK2 and STAT1 .\n\nConclusion: These findings suggest that TM facilitates SCI recovery by regulating AKT1 , JAK2 , TNF , STAT1 and miR-135a.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Orthopaedics, the General Hospital of Northern Theater Command"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Haocong Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mingming Guo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lingzhi Meng"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Meihui Piao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hailong Yu"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4011efsy50kyy.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fneur.2026.1846393",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2026.1846393/full",
  "id": "4011efsy50kyy",
  "issns": [
    "1664-2295"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2026.1846393/full",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "RC346-429"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2734|Spinal Cord Injury Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223706193",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2026.1846393/pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-26",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4011efsy50kyy.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:16Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fneur.2026.1846393",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2026.1846393/full"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:47:20Z",
      "native_id": "5d64bd422b404d98bba66413197f4746",
      "source": "doaj",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2026.1846393"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "lcc:RC346-429",
      "subfield": "neurology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Application of weighted gene co-expression network analysis to explore the targets of treadmill training in rats with spinal cord injury",
  "title_text": "Application of weighted gene co-expression network analysis to explore the targets of treadmill training in rats with spinal cord injury",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T13:47:20Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4011efsy50kyy",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Neurology",
  "versions": []
}