The promoting effect of pentadecapeptide BPC 157 on tendon healing involves tendon outgrowth, cell survival, and cell migration
Lab study on rat Achilles tendon explants and fibroblasts showing BPC-157 boosts cell outgrowth, survival and migration, likely via FAK-paxillin signaling.
- BPC 157 significantly accelerated fibroblast outgrowth from rat Achilles tendon explants
- It did not directly increase tendon fibroblast proliferation (MTT assay) but improved cell survival under H2O2 stress
- It dose-dependently increased tendon fibroblast migration and spreading
- It dose-dependently increased FAK and paxillin phosphorylation, suggesting a FAK-paxillin mechanism
Summary
This is an in vitro / ex vivo laboratory study, not a treatment study in living animals. A team led from Chang Gung University (Taiwan) cultured rat Achilles tendon explants and tendon fibroblasts derived from rat Achilles tendon, with or without BPC 157, to look for the cellular mechanism behind the peptide’s previously reported ability to speed healing of transected rat Achilles tendon. They measured explant outgrowth, cell proliferation, survival under oxidative stress (H2O2), migration, cell spreading, F-actin formation, and activation of the FAK and paxillin signaling proteins.
Key Findings
- BPC 157 significantly accelerated the outgrowth of fibroblasts from tendon explants
- Proliferation of cultured tendon fibroblasts was not directly affected by BPC 157 (MTT assay)
- Survival of BPC 157-treated fibroblasts was significantly increased under H2O2 stress
- BPC 157 markedly increased fibroblast migration in a dose-dependent manner (transwell filter assay) and dose-dependently accelerated cell spreading on culture dishes
- F-actin formation was induced in treated fibroblasts
- Phosphorylation of FAK and paxillin rose in a dose-dependent manner while total protein levels were unchanged; the authors conclude the effects are likely mediated by activation of the FAK-paxillin pathway
Relevance to BPC-157
This paper offers a proposed cell-level mechanism for BPC-157’s tendon-healing effects: helping tendon fibroblasts survive stress and move into the injury, rather than making them divide faster. It is a cell and tissue-culture study only. It did not measure tendon strength, healing or safety in living animals or people, and it does not establish a human dose.
Citation
Chang CH, Tsai WC, Lin MS, Hsu YH, Pang JH. The promoting effect of pentadecapeptide BPC 157 on tendon healing involves tendon outgrowth, cell survival, and cell migration. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2011;110(3):774-780. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00945.2010.
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