title: Gait analysis of spinal cord injured rats after delivery of chondroitinase ABC and adult olfactory mucosa progenitor cell transplantation.
abstract: Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) is a major component of glial scar to restrict axonal regeneration in the lesion site after spinal cord injury (SCI). Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC), a bacteria enzyme, which has been demonstrated to digest the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) side chain of CSPG to promote axonal re-growth across the injured site. Our previous study suggested that long-term delivery of ChABC (1U/ml, injection volume 0.6 microl for one animal) via intrathecal catheter could decrease the inhibitory effect of limiting axonal re-growth after SCI. The functional behavior has been shown to improve following ChABC treatment. Little axons re-grow across the lesion site of the spinal cord but not enough to support axon innervations to targets. In this article, we show that ChABC administration combining olfactory mucosa progenitor cell (OMPC) transplantation can promote axonal re-growth across the lesion site and enhance the consistency of stepping in spinally transected rats. These OMPCs generated NG2(+) cell lineages after transplanting into the spinal cord parenchyma, and OMPCs were found to spread and migrate toward the lesion region of spinal cord. Moreover, the spatial and temporal characteristics of the step cycle in rats that receive a complete spinal cord transaction following continuous ChABC supply and OMPC transplantation. The gait characteristics of treated rats on a treadmill were consistent and approached that of intact rats. In future, the mechanism of restoring the injured spinal cord will be further investigated.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neural Regeneration, Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Wen-Cheng
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Wen-Chun
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Sung-Hao
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Chu-Hsun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Jiang-Chuan
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Henrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000637:transplantation*; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D019765:Chondroitin ABC Lyase / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005684:Gait; D009831:Olfactory Mucosa / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D019765:Chondroitin ABC Lyase