Intraspinal injection of embryonic neurons maintains muscle phenotype in adult chronic spinal rats.
A suspension of monoaminergic embryonic neurons was transplanted into the spinal cord of paraplegic rats. Enzyme histochemical, morphometric, and biochemical analyses of the hindlimb musculature were carried out 2-5 months later to determine the consequences on muscle atrophy and muscle phenotypes which were compared in three groups of rats: intact, spinalized, and spinalized and transplanted with embryonic cells. Our results indicate that this transplantation does not prevent muscular atrophy, which appears highly dependent on the level of muscular activity, but partially maintains the slow phenotype, especially in the soleus muscle. We conclude that fiber phenotypes are not determined by the level of muscular activity alone but are also dependent on putative trophic factors synthesized by motoneurones.
Cooper
R N
RN
Laboratoire de Physiologie et Biologie de la Motricité, CNRS URA 1448, Montpellier, France.
Feraboli-Lohnherr
D
D
Butler-Browne
G
G
Orsal
D
D
Gimenez y Ribotta
M
M
Privat
A
A
D000818:Animals; D003655:Decerebrate State; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000166:cytology; D006614:Hindlimb; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D007278:Injections, Spinal; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation*; D009134:Muscular Atrophy, Spinal / Q000473:pathology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000637:transplantation*; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000502:physiology; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000473:pathology*; D010641:Phenotype; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012701:Serotonin / Q000502:physiology
D012701:Serotonin; D009638:Norepinephrine