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EVIDENCE FOR NEUROTROPHIC AND NEUROTROPIC EFFECTS OF THE OLFACTORY ENSHEATHING CELL |
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Saturday, 24 December 2005 |
Chun-Ting Wang and Gong Ju
Institute of Neuroscience, 4th Military Medical University, Xi’an, China
Objective: Olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC) grafting has emerged as a promising measure for promoting axonal regeneration, but many aspects of the role it may play remain to be verified. In the present study we examined the effects of OECs on dorsal root ganglia (DRG) in vitro.
Methodology: Adult mice enhanced-green-fluorescent-protein (eGFP) expressing OECs were isolated and purified, characterized by their immunoreactivity to P75, S100, and GFAP. The OECs and the adult rat DRG neurons were co-cultured.
Results: Both the number and length of the neurites were found increased in the presence of OECs, displaying a neurotrophic influence of the OECs. The neurotropic effect of the OECs was evidenced by that the DRG neurons and their processes tended to gather among clusters of the OECs. Furthermore, many neurites were found grow along, and in close contact with, the OEC processes, demonstrating that the OECs could guide the growing neurites.
Conclusion: The OECs can have neurotropic, neurotrophic, and axonal guiding effect on DRG neurons. These potentials are among the crucial capabilities of the OECs that justify their candidacy as a grafting agent for the treatment of spinal cord injury.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 24 December 2005 )
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