title: Transplantation of enteric cells expressing p75 in the rodent stomach.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neural crest stem cells may hold potential as a cellular therapeutic to repopulate the enteric nervous system. The expression of the low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor, p75, may enrich enteric cells isolated from the neonatal rodent intestinal tract for neural crest stem cells. While these cells have shown tremendous promise in vitro, it remains to be determined whether they will survive and differentiate after in vivo transplantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cells isolated from the neonatal rodent intestinal muscularis were sorted according to their degree of p75 expression. The parent, p75-high, and p75-low expressing populations were injected into the rodent stomach for 7 d in vivo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cells that expressed high levels of p75 also expressed high levels of nestin. Evaluation of the parent, p75-high, and p75-low populations of cells showed 420-, 130-, and 20-fold growth, respectively, after 11 d of culture. Transplantation of these populations of cells into syngeneic rodent stomachs showed cell survival in the injection site after 7 d. Cells expressing either the neuronal marker, peripherin, or the glial marker, S100, were present in and around the injection site when the parent and the p75-high populations were transplanted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Enteric cells survive transplantation into the rodent stomach and induce the expression of differentiation markers in and around the injection site. Based on these results, enteric cells may hold potential as a cellular therapeutic in a variety of gastrointestinal disorders.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-7098, USA.
authors.forename: Carrie L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Geisbauer
authors.forename: June C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chapin
authors.forename: Benjamin M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: James C Y
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dunn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation*; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D020800:Receptor, Nerve Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D013270:Stomach / Q000166:cytology / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D020800:Receptor, Nerve Growth Factor