Comparative gene expression profiling of olfactory ensheathing glia and Schwann cells indicates distinct tissue repair characteristics of olfactory ensheathing glia.

Olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) are a specialized type of glia that support the growth of primary olfactory axons from the neuroepithelium in the nasal cavity to the brain. Transplantation of OEG in the injured spinal cord promotes sprouting of injured axons and results in reduced cavity formation, enhanced axonal and tissue sparing, remyelination, and angiogenesis. Gene expression analysis may help to identify the molecular mechanisms underlying the ability of OEG to recreate an environment that supports regeneration in the central nervous system. Here, we compared the transcriptome of cultured OEG (cOEG) with the transcriptomes of cultured Schwann cells (cSCs) and of OEG directly obtained from their natural environment (nOEG), the olfactory nerve layer of adult rats. Functional data mining by Gene Ontology (GO)-analysis revealed a number of overrepresented GO-classes associated with tissue repair. These classes include "response to wounding," "blood vessel development," "cell adhesion," and GO-classes related to the extracellular matrix and were overrepresented in the set of differentially expressed genes between both comparisons. The current screening approach combined with GO-analysis has identified distinct molecular properties of OEG that may underlie their efficacy and interaction with host tissue after implantation in the injured spinal cord. These observations can form the basis for studies on the function of novel target molecules for therapeutic intervention after neurotrauma.