The Mechanobiological Hypothesis of Piezo Family-Mediated Exercise Intervention in Spinal Cord Injury Recovery

Exercise training plays a pivotal role in neural repair and secondary injury prevention following spinal cord injury (SCI) and is widely implemented in clinical rehabilitation. It induces adaptive changes and remodeling within the nervous system of SCI patients, thereby improving functional impairments. The mechanisms underlying this adaptive remodeling involve complex signaling pathways, with mechanosensation and mechanotransduction being indispensable. Mechanosensitive ion channels (such as Piezo channels) sense and transduce mechanical forces generated during exercise, triggering downstream biochemical reactions that regulate cellular functions and ultimately promote functional recovery. This review systematically synthesizes evidence from Piezo channel-related animal studies and clinical research, focusing on their role in reshaping the structure and function of the nervous system through exercise intervention post-SCI. The study aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which Piezo channels mediate exercise-induced functional recovery after SCI, providing a theoretical foundation for developing precision exercise prescriptions to facilitate functional reconstruction and rehabilitation in patients.