title: Mesenchymal stem cells as an alternative for Schwann cells in rat spinal cord injury.
abstract: Spinal cord has a limited capacity to repair; therefore, medical interventions are necessary for treatment of injuries. Transplantation of Schwann cells has shown a great promising result for spinal cord injury (SCI). However, harvesting Schwann cell has been limited due to donor morbidity and limited expansion capacity. Furthermore, accessible sources such as bone marrow stem cells have drawn attentions to themselves. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effect of bone marrow-derived Schwann cell on functional recovery in adult rats after injury.
  
  
  
  Mesenchymal stem cells were cultured from adult rats' bone marrow and induced into Schwann cells in vitro. Differentiation was confirmed by immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR. Next, Schwann cells were seeded into collagen scaffolds and engrafted in 3 mm lateral hemisection defects. For 8 weeks, motor and sensory improvements were assessed by open field locomotor scale, narrow beam, and tail flick tests. Afterwards, lesioned spinal cord was evaluated by conventional histology and immunohistochemistry.
  
  
  
  In vitro observations showed that differentiated cells had Schwann cell morphology and markers. In this study, we had four groups (n = 10 each): laminectomy, control, scaffold and scaffold + Schwann cells. Locomotor and sensory scores of cell grafted group were significantly better than control and scaffold groups. In histology, axonal regeneration and remyelination were better than control and scaffold groups.
  
  
  
  This study demonstrates that bone marrow-derived Schwann cells can be considered as a cell source for Schwann cells in SCI treatment.
authors.affiliation: National Cell Bank of Iran, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.|Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaminy
authors.affiliation: National Cell Bank of Iran, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shokrgozar
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Yousef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noroozian
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Hassan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Heidari
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piryaei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D019070:Cell Lineage; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008297:Male; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: Rats; Spinal cord injuries; Bone marrow; Schwann cells; Cell transdifferentiation