title: Stimulation of neurite outgrowth on neonatal cerebral astrocytes is enhanced in the presence of BDNF.
abstract: An area of increasing interest in spinal cord injury (SCI) research is the development of multi-factorial strategies to promote repair. In this respect, a prominent role is played by cell transplantation, the reparative effect of which can be enhanced by additional use of neurotrophic factors. Immature astrocytes have shown their merit in stimulating axon regeneration upon transplantation into the injured spinal cord. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) influences a wide range of descending axon tracts in the injured spinal cord. In the present study, we hypothesized that the neurite outgrowth of neonatal cortical neurons on immature astrocytes is enhanced in the presence of BDNF. To test this hypothesis, neonatal cortical neurons were cultured on neonatal astrocytes for 2 days in absence or presence of BDNF. The length of the longest neurite and the number of primary neurites per neuron were taken as measures to study neurite outgrowth. We show that BDNF dose-dependently enhanced neurite outgrowth of neonatal cerebral cortical neurons grown on immature astrocytes. Compared to conditions without BDNF, the length of the longest neurite increased by 25.5 and 28.8% in presence of 10 and 100 pg/ml BDNF, respectively. BDNF did not alter the density of the immature astrocytes. We conclude that the presence of BDNF enhances the neurite outgrowth on immature astrocytes. A multi-factorial strategy based on transplantation of neonatal astrocytes in the presence of additional BDNF is recommended and may stimulate axon regrowth after experimental injury to the central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Division Cellular Neuroscience, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands. r.deumens@np.unimaas.nl
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Deumens
authors.forename: Guido C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Koopmans
authors.forename: Robby J P
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Jaken
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morren
authors.forename: Tine
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Comhair
authors.forename: Sevginur
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kosar
authors.forename: Harry W M
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Steinbusch
authors.forename: Christel G J
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Den Bakker
authors.forename: Elbert A J
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Joosten
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D016501:Neurites / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor