Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2010 Dec;6(4):585-600. doi: 10.1007/s12015-010-9171-0.
The differentiation and proliferation of neural stem/progenitor cells (NPCs) depend on various in vivo environmental factors or cues, which may include an endogenous electrical field (EF), as observed during nervous system development and repair. In this study, we investigate the morphologic, phenotypic, and mitotic alterations of adult hippocampal NPCs that occur when exposed to two EFs of estimated endogenous strengths. NPCs treated with a 437 mV/mm direct current (DC) EF aligned perpendicularly to the EF vector and had a greater tendency to differentiate into neurons, but not into oligodendrocytes or astrocytes, compared to controls. Furthermore, NPC process growth was promoted perpendicularly and inhibited anodally in the 437 mV/mm DC EF. Yet fewer cells were observed in the DC EF, which in part was due to a decrease in cell viability. The other EF applied was a 46 mV/mm alternating current (AC) EF. However, the 46 mV/mm AC EF showed no major differences in alignment or differentiation, compared to control conditions. For both EF treatments, the percent of mitotic cells during the last 14 h of the experiment were statistically similar to controls. Reported here, to our knowledge, is the first evidence of adult NPC differentiation affected in an EF in vitro. Further investigation and application of EFs on stem cells is warranted to elucidate the utility of EFs to control phenotypic behavior. With progress, the use of EFs may be engineered to control differentiation and target the growth of transplanted cells in a stem cell-based therapy to treat nervous system disorders.
神经干细胞/祖细胞（NPCs）的分化和增殖依赖于各种体内环境因素或线索，其中可能包括内源性电场（EF），这在神经系统发育和修复过程中观察到。在这项研究中，我们研究了暴露于两种估计内源性强度的 EF 时成年海马 NPC 的形态、表型和有丝分裂改变。与对照组相比，用 437 mV/mm 直流（DC）EF 处理的 NPC 垂直于 EF 矢量排列，并且更倾向于分化为神经元，而不是少突胶质细胞或星形胶质细胞。此外，NPC 过程生长在 437 mV/mm DC EF 中垂直促进，阳极抑制。然而，在 DC EF 中观察到的细胞较少，这部分是由于细胞活力下降。施加的另一个 EF 是 46 mV/mm 交流（AC）EF。然而，与对照条件相比，46 mV/mm AC EF 在对齐或分化方面没有显示出主要差异。对于两种 EF 处理，实验最后 14 小时的有丝分裂细胞百分比与对照组统计学上相似。据我们所知，这是第一个体外 EF 影响成年 NPC 分化的证据。进一步研究和应用 EF 于干细胞是值得的，以阐明 EF 控制表型行为的效用。随着进展，EF 的使用可以设计为控制分化并靶向基于干细胞的治疗中移植细胞的生长，以治疗神经系统疾病。
