Buchanan J T, Nornes H O
Brain Res. 1986 Sep 3;381(2):225-36. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(86)90071-5.
Cell suspensions of embryonic brainstem containing the locus coeruleus were injected intervertebrally into the lumbar spinal cord of adult rats whose descending catecholamine (CA) fibers had been lesioned with intracisternal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine. Up to 1100 CA cells were found 2 and 4 months later, and these cells grew processes which produced histologically detectable reinnervation of the lumbar gray matter on the injected side of the cord. To assess the functional activity of the transplanted CA cells, the force of the hindlimb flexion reflex was measured in acute spinal rats. This reflex has been shown previously to be strongly enhanced by catecholamines. The flexion reflexes were significantly stronger in the transplanted rats than in the controls. Further, the flexion reflexes were significantly reduced by phenoxybenzamine, an alpha-adrenergic blocker, in the transplanted rats while the reflexes of controls were not significantly changed. These results demonstrate that cell suspension transplants of embryonic brainstem containing the locus coeruleus into the adult rat spinal cord survive, grow reinnervating catecholamine processes, and can affect the functional activity of the spinal cord.
将含有蓝斑的胚胎脑干细胞悬液经椎间注射到成年大鼠的腰脊髓中，这些成年大鼠的下行儿茶酚胺（CA）纤维已通过脑池内注射6-羟基多巴胺进行了损伤。在2个月和4个月后发现多达1100个CA细胞，这些细胞长出突起，在脊髓注射侧产生了组织学上可检测到的腰灰质再支配。为了评估移植的CA细胞的功能活性，在急性脊髓大鼠中测量后肢屈曲反射的力量。先前已证明这种反射会被儿茶酚胺强烈增强。移植大鼠的屈曲反射明显强于对照组。此外，在移植大鼠中，α-肾上腺素能阻滞剂酚苄明使屈曲反射明显减弱，而对照组的反射没有明显变化。这些结果表明，将含有蓝斑的胚胎脑干细胞悬液移植到成年大鼠脊髓中能够存活，长出再支配的儿茶酚胺突起，并能影响脊髓的功能活性。
