title: Neural stem-like cells derived from human amnion tissue are effective in treating traumatic brain injury in rat.
abstract: Although human amnion derived mesenchymal stem cells (AMSC) are a promising source of stem cells, their therapeutic potential for traumatic brain injury (TBI) has not been widely investigated. In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of AMSC using a rat TBI model. AMSC were isolated from human amniotic membrane and characterized by flow cytometry. After induction, AMSC differentiated in vitro into neural stem-like cells (AM-NSC) that expressed higher levels of the neural stem cell markers, nestin, sox2 and musashi, in comparison to undifferentiated AMSC. Interestingly, the neurotrophic factors, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF), neurotrophin 3 (NT-3), glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) were markedly upregulated after neural stem cell induction. Following transplantation in a rat TBI model, significant improvements in neurological function, brain tissue morphology, and higher levels of BDNF, NGF, NT-3, GDNF and CNTF, were observed in the AM-NSC group compared with the AMSC and Matrigel groups. However, few grafted cells survived with minimal differentiation into neural-like cells. Together, our results suggest that transplantation of AM-NSC promotes functional rehabilitation of rats with TBI, with enhanced expression of neurotrophic factors a likely mechanistic pathway.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory on Brain Function Repair and Regeneration of Guangdong, Neurosurgery Institute, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510282, China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Jie
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yu-Qin
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Hong-Tian
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Sun-Quan
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Hong-Long
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Mao-Ying
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ru-Xiang
authors.initials: RX
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000650:Amnion / Q000166:cytology*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000628:therapy*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers