Tang Wenxu, He Dan, Li Xiaofei, Feng Yi, Xu Yue, Hu Jiawei, Xu Wei, Xue Lei
Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 11;15(1):29291. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-14738-x.
Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), typically resulting from direct mechanical damage to the spine, often leads to disruption of neural signaling and axonal conduction, severely impairing nervous system function. In rodent models of SCI, neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation has demonstrated significant potential in restoring motor function and enhancing neural repair. Additionally, extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) have demonstrated efficacy in promoting nerve regeneration and activating spinal circuits. However, studies exploring how ELF-EMFs influence NSC activation remain limited. In this study, using spinal cord-derived NSCs from adult mice, we report that ELF-EMFs enhance cell proliferation and self-renewal by upregulating Sox2 expression. Furthermore, we addressed the underlying mechanisms and found that ELF-EMFs activate T-type calcium channels and enhance calcium currents. The resulting increase in intercellular calcium concentration upregulates the expression of NeuroG1 and NeuroD1, promoting neuronal differentiation of NSCs and enhancing neurite outgrowth. Our findings provide new insights into the ELF-EMF-mediated activation of NSCs and highlight their potential for integration into combination therapies and SCI repair.
创伤性脊髓损伤（SCI）通常由脊柱直接机械损伤引起，常导致神经信号传导和轴突传导中断，严重损害神经系统功能。在SCI的啮齿动物模型中，神经干细胞（NSC）移植已显示出在恢复运动功能和促进神经修复方面的巨大潜力。此外，极低频电磁场（ELF-EMF）已证明在促进神经再生和激活脊髓回路方面具有功效。然而，探索ELF-EMF如何影响NSC激活的研究仍然有限。在本研究中，我们使用成年小鼠脊髓来源的NSC，报告ELF-EMF通过上调Sox2表达来增强细胞增殖和自我更新。此外，我们探讨了其潜在机制，发现ELF-EMF激活T型钙通道并增强钙电流。细胞内钙浓度的增加上调了NeuroG1和NeuroD1的表达，促进了NSC的神经元分化并增强了神经突生长。我们的研究结果为ELF-EMF介导的NSC激活提供了新的见解，并突出了它们整合到联合治疗和SCI修复中的潜力。
