Neurally induced umbilical cord blood cells modestly repair injured spinal cords.
Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is known to have stem/progenitor cells. We earlier showed that novel progenitors could be isolated from cryopreserved human UCB with high efficiency. The multipotent progenitor cells were induced to differentiate into neural-lineage cells under the appropriate condition. In this study, we confirmed these neurally induced progenitor cells (NPCs), containing higher quantities of nerve growth factor, promoted functional recovery in rats with spinal cord injury (SCI). Sprague-Dawley rats with SCI achieved a modest improvement in locomotor rating scale until 10 weeks after transplantation of the NPCs. SCI rats treated with NPCs also showed somatosensory-evoked potentials were recovered, and grafted cells especially exhibited oligodendrocytic phenotype around the necrotic cavity. These findings suggest that UCB-NPCs might be a therapeutic resource to repair damaged spinal cords.
Cho
Sung-Rae
SR
Department and Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Brain Research Institute and Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. srcho918@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr
Yang
Mal Sook
MS
Yim
Sun Hee
SH
Park
Jin Hee
JH
Lee
Jong Eun
JE
Eom
Young-Woo
YW
Jang
In Keun
IK
Kim
Hyo Eun
HE
Park
Joon Seong
JS
Kim
Hyun Ok
HO
Lee
Bae Hwan
BH
Park
Chang-Il
CI
Kim
Young Jin
YJ
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D036101:Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000379:methods; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein