title: Transplanted progenitors generate functional enteric neurons in the postnatal colon.
abstract: Cell therapy has the potential to treat gastrointestinal motility disorders caused by diseases of the enteric nervous system. Many studies have demonstrated that various stem/progenitor cells can give rise to functional neurons in the embryonic gut; however, it is not yet known whether transplanted neural progenitor cells can migrate, proliferate, and generate functional neurons in the postnatal bowel in vivo. We transplanted neurospheres generated from fetal and postnatal intestinal neural crest-derived cells into the colon of postnatal mice. The neurosphere-derived cells migrated, proliferated, and generated neurons and glial cells that formed ganglion-like clusters within the recipient colon. Graft-derived neurons exhibited morphological, neurochemical, and electrophysiological characteristics similar to those of enteric neurons; they received synaptic inputs; and their neurites projected to muscle layers and the enteric ganglia of the recipient mice. These findings show that transplanted enteric neural progenitor cells can generate functional enteric neurons in the postnatal bowel and advances the notion that cell therapy is a promising strategy for enteric neuropathies.
authors: Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors: Ryo
authors: R
authors: Hotta
authors: Lincon A
authors: LA
authors: Stamp
authors: Jaime P P
authors: JP
authors: Foong
authors: Sophie N
authors: SN
authors: McConnell
authors: Annette J
authors: AJ
authors: Bergner
authors: Richard B
authors: RB
authors: Anderson
authors: Hideki
authors: H
authors: Enomoto
authors: Donald F
authors: DF
authors: Newgreen
authors: Florian
authors: F
authors: Obermayr
authors: John B
authors: JB
authors: Furness
authors: Heather M
authors: HM
authors: Young
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D048430:Cell Shape; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003106:Colon / Q000166:cytology / Q000294:innervation*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism; D051959:ELAV Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D017615:Enteric Nervous System / Q000166:cytology; D005333:Fetus / Q000166:cytology; D005725:Ganglia, Autonomic / Q000166:cytology; D051379:Mice; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology* / Q000637:transplantation; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018874:Spheroids, Cellular / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation
chemical_list: D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D051959:ELAV Proteins; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit; D009418:S100 Proteins