title: Human mesenchymal stem cell transplantation promotes functional recovery following acute spinal cord injury in rats.
abstract: Many attempts have been made in animals to produce cellular regeneration in the spinal cord using a variety of transplanted cell types. The present study was to investigate whether transplantation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) into the spinal cord after contusion injury promotes a functional outcome. Spinal cord injury (SCI) was induced using an NYU impactor and hMSCs were transplanted 1 week after SCI. Behavioral testing was performed weekly for 2 months. Somatosensory (SSEPs) and motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded to determine functional recovery. Hindlimb performance was modestly improved in the transplanted group based on BBB scaling and pain tests. SSEP latencies in the transplanted group were significantly shorter than in the media-treated group. Pathologically, LacZ and hTau positive cells were located at the injury and adjacent sites. The data indicate improvement in functional outcome in animals treated with hMSC transplantation compared to media-treated animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Brain Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Haeyoung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suh-Kim
authors.forename: Ji Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Sin-Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Jeun
authors.forename: Eun Jin
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sung-Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Do Heum
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Bae Hwan
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002648:Child; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000294:innervation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins