Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangdong Province 510630, China.
Neurosci Lett. 2012 Oct 31;529(1):12-7. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2012.09.025. Epub 2012 Sep 19.
Several studies demonstrated that the overexpression of miR-124 in neural stem cells (NSCs) could lead the NSCs to differentiate into neurons and astrocytes, which may be important for functional recovery in spinal cord injury. The present study attempted to explore the potential repairing effect of the NSCs transfected with miR-124 for the rats with spinal cord injury (SCI). NSCs transfected with miR-124 were transplanted into rats by intravenous injection after SCI. The effects of miR-124 on the differentiation of NSCs and the treatment for the SCI-model rats were experimentally investigated. The reduction of cavity volume in focal lesions and Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scores were used as the criteria of functional recovery of the SCI-model rats. Up-regulation of miR-124 promoted the differentiation of NSCs. Transfection of miR-124 in NSCs dramatically increased the percentage of NeuN-positive cells, and reduced the percentage of GFAP-positive cells in vitro and in vivo respectively. All of the rats treated with NSCs transfected with miR-124 achieved the better functional recovery than the ones in NSCs and sham control groups. Furthermore, the systemic delivery of the NSCs transfected with miR-124 resulted in a reduction of lesion cavity volume of SCI-model rats. Thus, Overexpression of miR-124 can promote the differentiation of NSCs and play an important role in the repair of SCI. The utility of intravenous delivery of stem cells regulated with miR-124 to target lesion areas as a prospective therapeutic approach in acute spinal cord injury is very promising in the future.
多项研究表明，在神经干细胞（NSCs）中过表达 miR-124 可导致 NSCs 分化为神经元和星形胶质细胞，这可能对脊髓损伤后的功能恢复很重要。本研究试图探讨转染 miR-124 的 NSCs 对脊髓损伤（SCI）大鼠的潜在修复作用。通过静脉注射将转染 miR-124 的 NSCs 移植到 SCI 大鼠体内。实验研究了 miR-124 对 NSCs 分化的影响以及对 SCI 模型大鼠的治疗作用。腔隙体积减少和 Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan（BBB）评分作为 SCI 模型大鼠功能恢复的标准。miR-124 的上调促进了 NSCs 的分化。miR-124 在 NSCs 中的转染显著增加了 NeuN 阳性细胞的百分比，并分别在体外和体内降低了 GFAP 阳性细胞的百分比。所有接受转染 miR-124 的 NSCs 治疗的大鼠的功能恢复均优于 NSCs 和假手术对照组。此外，转染 miR-124 的 NSCs 的全身递送导致 SCI 模型大鼠的损伤腔体积减少。因此，miR-124 的过表达可以促进 NSCs 的分化，并在 SCI 的修复中发挥重要作用。miR-124 调节的干细胞通过静脉递送靶向损伤区域作为急性脊髓损伤的潜在治疗方法具有广阔的前景。
