wildwilly
10-13-2009, 01:03 PM
Cell Transplant. 2009 Aug 5.
Transient Recovery in a Rat Model of Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis after Transplantation of Motor Neurons Derived From Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells.
López-González R, Knuckles P, Velasco I.
Embryonic stem (ES) cells can be induced to differentiate into motor neurons (MN). Animal models resembling MN degeneration and paralysis observed in familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) have been previously reported. In this work, we aimed to investigate whether transplanted MN could prevent motor deterioration in transgenic rats expressing a mutant form of human Superoxide dismutase 1 (hSOD1G93A) associated with inherited ALS. Mouse ES cells were differentiated to neurons that express Green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the promoter of the MN-specific gene hb9, as well as molecular markers indicative of MN identity. Cells were grafted into the lumbar spinal cord of adult wild-type (WT) or hSOD1G93A rats at 10 weeks of age, when transgenic animals are presymptomatic. Grafted cells with MN phenotype can survive for at least one week in hSOD1G93A animals. To quantitatively evaluate motor performance of WT and transgenic rats, we carried out weekly rotarod tests starting when the animals were 14 weeks-old. Sham and grafted WT animals showed no decline in their ability to sustain themselves on the rotating rod. In contrast, sham hSOD1G93A rats decreased in motor performance from week 16 onwards, reaching paralysis by week 19 of age. In grafted transgenic animals, there was a significant improvement in rotarod competence at weeks 16 and 17 when compared to sham hSOD1G93A. However, in the following weeks, transplanted hSOD1G93A rats showed motor deterioration and eventually exhibited paralysis by week 19. At end-stage, we found only a few endogenous MN in sham and rats by cresyl violet staining; no choline acetyl transferase-positive nor GFPMN were present in grafted transgenic subjects. In contrast, WT rats analyzed at the same age possessed grafted GFP-positive MN in their spinal cords. These results strongly suggest that the transgenic hSOD1G93A environment is detrimental to grafted MN in the long term.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19660174?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
Transient Recovery in a Rat Model of Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis after Transplantation of Motor Neurons Derived From Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells.
López-González R, Knuckles P, Velasco I.
Embryonic stem (ES) cells can be induced to differentiate into motor neurons (MN). Animal models resembling MN degeneration and paralysis observed in familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) have been previously reported. In this work, we aimed to investigate whether transplanted MN could prevent motor deterioration in transgenic rats expressing a mutant form of human Superoxide dismutase 1 (hSOD1G93A) associated with inherited ALS. Mouse ES cells were differentiated to neurons that express Green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the promoter of the MN-specific gene hb9, as well as molecular markers indicative of MN identity. Cells were grafted into the lumbar spinal cord of adult wild-type (WT) or hSOD1G93A rats at 10 weeks of age, when transgenic animals are presymptomatic. Grafted cells with MN phenotype can survive for at least one week in hSOD1G93A animals. To quantitatively evaluate motor performance of WT and transgenic rats, we carried out weekly rotarod tests starting when the animals were 14 weeks-old. Sham and grafted WT animals showed no decline in their ability to sustain themselves on the rotating rod. In contrast, sham hSOD1G93A rats decreased in motor performance from week 16 onwards, reaching paralysis by week 19 of age. In grafted transgenic animals, there was a significant improvement in rotarod competence at weeks 16 and 17 when compared to sham hSOD1G93A. However, in the following weeks, transplanted hSOD1G93A rats showed motor deterioration and eventually exhibited paralysis by week 19. At end-stage, we found only a few endogenous MN in sham and rats by cresyl violet staining; no choline acetyl transferase-positive nor GFPMN were present in grafted transgenic subjects. In contrast, WT rats analyzed at the same age possessed grafted GFP-positive MN in their spinal cords. These results strongly suggest that the transgenic hSOD1G93A environment is detrimental to grafted MN in the long term.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19660174?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum