Yao Yue, Zheng Xiang-Rong, Zhang Shan-Shan, Wang Xia, Yu Xiao-He, Tan Jie-Lu, Yang Yu-Jia
Department of Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
Neural Regen Res. 2016 Sep;11(9):1456-1463. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.191220.
Neural stem/progenitor cell (NSC) transplantation has been shown to effectively improve neurological function in rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a signaling protein that stimulates angiogenesis and improves neural regeneration. We hypothesized that transplantation of VEGF-transfected NSCs would alleviate hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in neonatal rats. We produced and transfected a recombinant lentiviral vector containing the VEGF gene into cultured NSCs. The transfected NSCs were transplanted into the left sensorimotor cortex of rats 3 days after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. Compared with the NSCs group, VEGF mRNA and protein expression levels were increased in the transgene NSCs group, and learning and memory abilities were significantly improved at 30 days. Furthermore, histopathological changes were alleviated in these animals. Our findings indicate that transplantation of VEGF-transfected NSCs may facilitate the recovery of neurological function, and that its therapeutic effectiveness is better than that of unmodified NSCs.
神经干/祖细胞（NSC）移植已被证明能有效改善缺氧缺血性脑损伤大鼠的神经功能。血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）是一种刺激血管生成并促进神经再生的信号蛋白。我们推测，移植转染VEGF的神经干/祖细胞可减轻新生大鼠的缺氧缺血性脑损伤。我们构建了含VEGF基因的重组慢病毒载体并将其转染至培养的神经干/祖细胞。在缺氧缺血性脑损伤3天后，将转染后的神经干/祖细胞移植到大鼠左侧感觉运动皮层。与神经干/祖细胞组相比，转基因神经干/祖细胞组中VEGF的mRNA和蛋白表达水平升高，且在30天时学习和记忆能力显著改善。此外，这些动物的组织病理学变化得到缓解。我们的研究结果表明，移植转染VEGF的神经干/祖细胞可能有助于神经功能的恢复，且其治疗效果优于未修饰的神经干/祖细胞。
