title: Chronic spinal cord lesions respond positively to tranplants of mesenchymal stem cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite substantial advances in surgical care and rehabilitation, the consequences of spinal cord injury (SCI) continue to present major challenges. Here we investigate whether transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in mice during the chronic stage of SCI has benefits in terms of morphological and functional outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mice were subjected to laminectomy at the T9 level, followed by a 1 minute spinal cord compression with a vascular clip. Four weeks later, 8 × 105 MSCs obtained from GFP mice were injected into the injury site. After eight weeks the analyses were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The spinal cords of MSC-treated animals exhibited better white-matter preservation, greater numbers of fibers, higher levels of trophic factor expression, and better ultrastructural tissue organization. Furthermore, transplanted MSCs were not immunoreactive for neural markers, indicating that these cells mediate functional recovery through a paracrine effect, rather than by transforming into and replacing damaged glia in the spinal cord. MSC-treated mice also showed better functional improvement than control animals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that MSC-based cell therapy, even when applied during the chronic phase of SCI, leads to changes in a number of structural and functional parameters, all of which indicate improved recovery.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Neurodegeneração e Reparo, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, campus Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: Fernanda Martins
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: de Almeida
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biologia - Departamento de Neurobiologia - Laboratório de Regeneração Neural e Função - UFF - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Suelen Adriani
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Neurodegeneração e Reparo, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Departamento de Patologia - Faculdade de Medicina - HUCFF -UFRJ - Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruna dos Santos
authors.initials: Bdos S
authors.lastname: Ramalho
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biologia - Departamento de Neurobiologia - Laboratório de Regeneração Neural e Função - UFF - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tamires Braga
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Massoto
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Neurodegeneração e Reparo, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Departamento de Patologia - Faculdade de Medicina - HUCFF -UFRJ - Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Maria Blanco
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Martinez
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008264:Macrophages; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009418:S100 Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins
keywords: Spinal cord injury; cell therapy; functional recovery; morphological analysis