title: Analysis of graft survival in a trial of stem cell transplant in ALS.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The first US Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trial to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with neural stem cell-based therapy is in progress. The goal of the current study was to identify and assess the survival of human spinal cord-derived neural stem cells (HSSCs) transplanted into the spinal cord in patients with ALS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spinal cords transplanted with HSSCs were examined from six autopsy cases. Homogenized tissues were interrogated for the presence of donor versus recipient DNA using real-time PCR methods (qPCR). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed using DNA probes for XY chromosomes to identify male donor HSSCs in one female case, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to characterize the identified donor cells.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genomic DNA from donor HSSCs was identified in all cases, comprising 0.67-5.4% of total tissue DNA in patients surviving 196 to 921 days after transplantation. In the one female patient a "nest" of cells identified on H&E staining were XY-positive by FISH, confirming donor origin. A subset of XY-positive cells labeled for the neuronal marker NeuN and stem cell marker SOX2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to identify human neural stem cells transplanted into a human spinal cord. Transplanted HSSCs survived up to 2.5 years posttransplant. Some cells differentiated into neurons, while others maintained their stem cell phenotype. This work is a proof of concept of the survival and differentiation of human stems cell transplanted into the spinal cord of ALS patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Tezeta
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tadesse
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia ; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Marla
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gearing
authors.affiliation: Histocompatibility Laboratory, City of Hope Cancer Center Duarte, California.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Senitzer
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saxe
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Brat
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bray
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gebel
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia ; Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Emory University Hospital Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Boulis
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Michigan School of Medicine Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.affiliation: Neuralstem, Inc. Rockville, Maryland.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Johe
authors.affiliation: Neuralstem, Inc. Rockville, Maryland.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hazel
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Meraida
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Polak
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bordeau
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Thais
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Federici
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia ; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Glass