Promotion of Survival and Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells with Fibrin and Growth Factor Cocktails after Severe Spinal Cord Injury

Summary

Fibrin matrices containing growth factors were used to retain grafted neural stem cells into sites of complete spinal cord transection. Grafted cells completely filled the lesion cavity and differentiated into multiple neural cell types, including neurons that extended axons into host spinal cord over long distances.

Abstract

Neural stem cells (NSCs) can self-renew and differentiate into neurons and glia. Transplanted NSCs can replace lost neurons and glia after spinal cord injury (SCI), and can form functional relays to re-connect spinal cord segments above and below a lesion. Previous studies grafting neural stem cells have been limited by incomplete graft survival within the spinal cord lesion cavity. Further, tracking of graft cell survival, differentiation, and process extension had not been optimized. Finally, in previous studies, cultured rat NSCs were typically reported to differentiate into glia when grafted to the injured spinal cord, rather than neurons, unless fate was driven to a specific cell type. To address these issues, we developed new methods to improve the survival, integration and differentiation of NSCs to sites of even severe SCI. NSCs were freshly isolated from embryonic day 14 spinal cord (E14) from a stable transgenic Fischer 344 rat line expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and were embedded into a fibrin matrix containing growth factors; this formulation aimed to retain grafted cells in the lesion cavity and support cell survival. NSCs in the fibrin/growth factor cocktail were implanted two weeks after thoracic level-3 (T3) complete spinal cord transections, thereby avoiding peak periods of inflammation. Resulting grafts completely filled the lesion cavity and differentiated into both neurons, which extended axons into the host spinal cord over remarkably long distances, and glia. Grafts of cultured human NSCs expressing GFP resulted in similar findings. Thus, methods are defined for improving neural stem cell grafting, survival and analysis of in vivo findings.

Introduction

Spinal cord injury (SCI) often damages not only white matter tracts that carry signals to and from the brain, but also the central gray matter, causing segmental loss of interneurons and motor neurons. The consequence of SCI is loss of both motor and sensory function below the lesion. Unfortunately, the adult central nervous system (CNS) does not spontaneously regenerate, resulting in permanent functional deficits¹. Therefore, reconstruction of the injured adult spinal cord and improvement in motor, sensory and autonomic function is an important goal of SCI research. Neural stem cells (NSCs), whether directly isolated from embryonic or adult CNS, are compel....

Protocol

All animal protocols are approved by VA-San Diego Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). NIH guidelines for laboratory animal care and safety are strictly followed. Animals have free access to food and water throughout the study and are adequately treated for minimizing pain and discomfort.

1. Preparation of Fibrin Components Containing Growth Factor Cocktails

1. Dissolve 25 mg rat fibrinogen in 0.5 ml PBS to obtain 50 mg/ml 2x stock solution (see Materials table). Fibrinogen is difficult to dissolve and should be placed into a 37 °C incubator or waterbath and shaken every 5-10 min for 1-2 hr.
2. Dissolve ....

Results

GFP immunohistological labeling demonstrates that grafted rat NSCs resuspended in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (lacking a fibrin matrix and growth factors) survived poorly in the T3 transection site, only attaching to the lesion/host margin and leaving most of the lesion site empty without grafted cells (Figure 2A). The survival of NSCs improved when co-grafted with fibrin matrices alone, but the graft did not completely fill up a large lesion cavity (data not shown). Therefore, we embedded NSCs into .......

Discussion

One of the major hurdles for NSC transplantation in the injured spinal cord is poor survival in the lesion center. Any gaps or cavities in the lesion site could potentially reduce or weaken the formation of functional neuronal relays between supraspinal axons and separated spinal cord segments below the injury. In addition, poor survival of grafted NSCs may affect their integration with host tissue, and therefore reduce connectivity of grafted neurons with host neurons. Potential mechanisms to explain cell loss include t.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Fibrinogen (rat)	Sigma	F6755-25MG	2 hr at 37 °C to dissovle Stock Concentration: 50 mg/ml Final Concentration: 25 mg/ml
Thrombin (rat)	Sigma	T5772-100UN	Dissovle in 10 mM CaCl2 Stock Concentration: 50 U/ml Final Concentration: 25 mg/ml
bFGF (human)	Sigma	F0291 (25 μg)	Stock Concentration: 200 ng/μl Final Concentration: 10 ng/μl
EGF (murine)	Sigma	E1257 (0.1 mg)	Stock Concentration: 200 ng/μl Final Concentration: 10 ng/μl
BDNF (human)	Peprotech	452-02 (1 mg)	Stock Concentration: 1,000 ng/μl Final Concentration: 50 ng/μl
NT-3 (human)	Peprotech	452-03 (1 mg)	Stock Concentration: 1,000 ng/μl Final Concentration: 50 ng/μl
GDNF (rat)	Sigma	G1401 (10 μg)	Stock Concentration: 200 ng/μl Final Concentration: 10 ng/μl
IGF-1 (mouse)	Sigma	I8779 (50 μg)	Stock Concentration: 200 ng/μl Final Concentration: 10 ng/μl
aFGF (human)	Sigma	F5542 (25 μg)	Stock Concentration: 200 ng/μl Final Concentration: 10 ng/μl
PDGF-AA (human)	Sigma	P3076 (10 μg)	Stock Concentration: 200 ng/μl Final Concentration: 10 ng/μl
HGF (human)	Sigma	H9661 (5 μg)	Stock Concentration: 200 ng/μl Final Concentration: 10 ng/μl
MDL28170	Sigma	M6690 (25 mg)	Stock in DMSO Stock Concentration: 1 mM Final Concentration: 50 μM
PBS	Millipore	BSS-1005-B	Stock Concentration: 1x Final Concentration: 1x
DMSO	Sigma	D2650
Ketamine	Putney	26637-411-01	40-80 mg/kg Stock Concentration: 100 mg/ml Final Concentration: 25 mg/ml
Xylazine	Lloyd	0410,	2.5-8 mg/ml Stock Concentration: 100 mg/ml Final Concentration: 5.8 mg/ml
Acepromazine	Butler	003845	0.5-4 mg/ml Stock Concentration: 10 mg/ml Final Concentration: 0.25 mg/ml
Betadine	Healthpets	BET16OZ
Ringers	Abbott	04860-04-10	2-3 ml/inj
Banamine	Schering-Plough	0061-0851-03	2.5-5 mg/kg Stock Concentration: 50 mg/ml Final Concentration: 0.5 mg/ml
Ampicillin	Sandoz	0781-3404-85	80-100 mg/kg Final Concentration: 50 mg/ml
LH-RH	Sigma	L4513	200 μg/kg Final Concentration: 200 μg/ml
HBSS	Gibco	14175-096
Trypsin	Gibco	25200056	Stock Concentration: 0.25 % Final Concentration: 0.125 %
DMEM	Gibco	11995073
FBS	Gibco	16000044	Stock Concentration: 100 % Final Concentration: 10 %
Neurobasal Medium	Gibco	21103049
B27	Gibco	17504044	Stock Concentration: 100x Final Concentration: 1x
Note, use human reagents for grafts of human NSCs