Ruven Carolin, Li Wen, Li Heng, Wong Wai-Man, Wu Wutian
School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong, China.
State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2017 Feb 27;18(3):511. doi: 10.3390/ijms18030511.
Injuries to peripheral nerves are frequent in serious traumas and spinal cord injuries. In addition to surgical approaches, other interventions, such as cell transplantation, should be considered to keep the muscles in good condition until the axons regenerate. In this study, E14.5 rat embryonic spinal cord fetal cells and cultured neural progenitor cells from different spinal cord segments were injected into transected musculocutaneous nerve of 200-300 g female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, and atrophy in biceps brachii was assessed. Both kinds of cells were able to survive, extend their axons towards the muscle and form neuromuscular junctions that were functional in electromyographic studies. As a result, muscle endplates were preserved and atrophy was reduced. Furthermore, we observed that the fetal cells had a better effect in reducing the muscle atrophy compared to the pure neural progenitor cells, whereas lumbar cells were more beneficial compared to thoracic and cervical cells. In addition, fetal lumbar cells were used to supplement six weeks delayed surgical repair after the nerve transection. Cell transplantation helped to preserve the muscle endplates, which in turn lead to earlier functional recovery seen in behavioral test and electromyography. In conclusion, we were able to show that embryonic spinal cord derived cells, especially the lumbar fetal cells, are beneficial in the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries due to their ability to prevent the muscle atrophy.
外周神经损伤在严重创伤和脊髓损伤中很常见。除了手术方法外，还应考虑其他干预措施，如细胞移植，以在轴突再生之前保持肌肉的良好状态。在本研究中，将E14.5大鼠胚胎脊髓胎儿细胞和来自不同脊髓节段的培养神经祖细胞注入200 - 300克雌性Sprague Dawley（SD）大鼠横断的肌皮神经中，并评估肱二头肌的萎缩情况。两种细胞都能够存活，将轴突向肌肉延伸并形成在肌电图研究中具有功能的神经肌肉接头。结果，肌肉终板得以保留，萎缩减轻。此外，我们观察到与纯神经祖细胞相比，胎儿细胞在减少肌肉萎缩方面效果更好，而腰椎细胞比胸椎和颈椎细胞更有益。此外，胎儿腰椎细胞用于补充神经横断六周后延迟的手术修复。细胞移植有助于保留肌肉终板，这反过来又导致在行为测试和肌电图中观察到更早的功能恢复。总之，我们能够证明胚胎脊髓衍生细胞，特别是腰椎胎儿细胞，因其预防肌肉萎缩的能力而对外周神经损伤的治疗有益。
