title: Evaluation of Epidermal Neural Crest Stem Cells in Organotypic Spinal Cord Slice Culture Platform.
abstract: Among various strategies employed for spinal cord injury, stem cell therapy is a potential treatment. So far, a variety of stem cells have been evaluated in animal models and humans with spinal cord injury, and epidermal neural crest stem cells represent one of the attractive types in this area. Although these multipotent stem cells have been assessed in several spinal cord injury models by independent laboratories, extensive work remains to be done to ascertain whether these cells can safely improve the outcome following human spinal cord injury. Among the models that closely mimic human spinal cord injury, the in vitro model of injury in organotypic spinal cord slice culture has been identified as one of the faithful platforms for injury-related investigations. In this study, green fluorescent protein-expressing stem cells were grafted into injured organotypic spinal cord slice culture and their survival was examined by confocal microscope seven days after transplantation. Data obtained from this preliminary study showed that these stem cells can survive on top of the surface of injured slices, as observed on day seven following their transplantation. This result revealed that this in vitro model of injury can be considered as a suitable context for further evaluation of epidermal neural crest stem cells before their application in large animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pandamooz
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Salehi
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nabiuni
authors.affiliation: NeuroBiology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dargahi
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pourghasem
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016923:Cell Death; D048430:Cell Shape; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D000078404:Epidermal Cells; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins