Neural stem cell mediated recovery is enhanced by Chondroitinase ABC pretreatment in chronic cervical spinal cord injury. PLoS One 2017;12(8):e0182339
Date
08/05/2017Pubmed ID
28771534Pubmed Central ID
PMC5542671DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0182339Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85026755609 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 76 CitationsAbstract
Traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCIs) affect millions of people worldwide; the majority of whom are in the chronic phase of their injury. Unfortunately, most current treatments target the acute/subacute injury phase as the microenvironment of chronically injured cord consists of a well-established glial scar with inhibitory chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) which acts as a potent barrier to regeneration. It has been shown that CSPGs can be degraded in vivo by intrathecal Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) to produce a more permissive environment for regeneration by endogenous cells or transplanted neural stem cells (NSCs) in the subacute phase of injury. Using a translationally-relevant clip-contusion model of cervical spinal cord injury in mice we sought to determine if ChABC pretreatment could modify the harsh chronic microenvironment to enhance subsequent regeneration by induced pluripotent stem cell-derived NSCs (iPS-NSC). Seven weeks after injury-during the chronic phase-we delivered ChABC by intrathecal osmotic pump for one week followed by intraparenchymal iPS-NSC transplant rostral and caudal to the injury epicenter. ChABC administration reduced chronic-injury scar and resulted in significantly improved iPSC-NSC survival with clear differentiation into all three neuroglial lineages. Neurons derived from transplanted cells also formed functional synapses with host circuits on patch clamp analysis. Furthermore, the combined treatment led to recovery in key functional muscle groups including forelimb grip strength and measures of forelimb/hindlimb locomotion assessed by Catwalk. This represents important proof-of-concept data that the chronically injured spinal cord can be 'unlocked' by ChABC pretreatment to produce a microenvironment conducive to regenerative iPS-NSC therapy.
Author List
Suzuki H, Ahuja CS, Salewski RP, Li L, Satkunendrarajah K, Nagoshi N, Shibata S, Fehlings MGAuthor
Kajana Satkunendrarajah PhD Associate Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsCell Differentiation
Cells, Cultured
Cervical Cord
Chondroitin ABC Lyase
Chronic Disease
Cicatrix
Evoked Potentials
Forelimb
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Locomotion
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Nerve Regeneration
Neural Stem Cells
Neurons
Recovery of Function
Spinal Cord
Spinal Cord Injuries
Synapses