Department of Anatomy, College of Basic Medical Sciences, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, PR China.
Int J Mol Med. 2011 Oct;28(4):565-72. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2011.725. Epub 2011 Jun 17.
Mesenchymal stem cells have become a very attractive source of cell implantation for neural tissue engineering. The ideal stem cells for transplantation should be easily obtained, and should rapidly proliferate in vitro and have low immunogenicity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the regenerative potential of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) on peripheral nerve repair. ADSCs were isolated from rat adipose tissue and cultured until adherent cells became morphologically homogeneous with a fibroblast-like shape, and transplanted with acellular nerve allografts (ANAs) into rat models with a 10 mm gap of transected sciatic nerve defect. After cell transplantation, we found that ADSC implantation improved functional recovery of exercise behavior and increased wet weight ratio of the anterior tibial muscle. In the electrophysiological testing, we found that the percentage of activated fibers was higher in the ADSC-implanted animals as evidenced by the increase of nerve conduction velocity and amplitude. Histological examination revealed that the number of nerve fibers, axonal diameter and myelin thickness were significantly higher in the ADSC-implanted animals compared to the control. In addition, we demonstrated that the progression of the regenerative process after ADSC implantation was accompanied by elevated expression of neurotrophic factors at both the early and later phase. Taken together, these results suggest that ADSCs can promote the repair of peripheral nerve injury, and the combination of ADSC and ANA transplantation is a new therapeutic method for long distant peripheral nerve defects. Our data also provide evidence indicating the strong association of neurotrophic factor production to the regenerative potential of implanted ADSCs.
间充质干细胞已成为神经组织工程中细胞植入的非常有吸引力的来源。用于移植的理想干细胞应易于获得，并且应在体外快速增殖，且免疫原性低。本研究旨在探讨脂肪来源的干细胞（ADSC）在外周神经修复中的再生潜力。从大鼠脂肪组织中分离 ADCS 并进行培养，直到贴壁细胞具有均一的形态和类似成纤维细胞的形状，然后将其与去细胞同种异体神经移植物（ANAs）一起移植到 10mm 切断坐骨神经缺损的大鼠模型中。细胞移植后，我们发现 ADSC 植入可改善运动行为的功能恢复，并增加前胫骨肌肉的湿重比。在电生理测试中，我们发现 ADSC 植入动物的激活纤维百分比更高，这表现为神经传导速度和幅度的增加。组织学检查显示，与对照组相比，ADSC 植入动物的神经纤维数量、轴突直径和髓鞘厚度明显更高。此外，我们证明 ADSC 植入后再生过程的进展伴随着神经营养因子在早期和后期表达的升高。综上所述，这些结果表明 ADSC 可以促进周围神经损伤的修复，ADSC 和 ANA 移植的结合是治疗长距离周围神经缺损的新方法。我们的数据还提供了证据表明，神经营养因子的产生与植入的 ADSC 的再生潜力密切相关。
