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. 2018 Aug 1;11(8):3858-3866.
eCollection 2018.

The transplantation of human urine stem cells combined with chondroitinase ABC promotes brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor following spinal cord injury in rats

Hemu Chen  1 , Jian Li  1 , Han Yan  1
Affiliations

The transplantation of human urine stem cells combined with chondroitinase ABC promotes brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor following spinal cord injury in rats

Hemu Chen et al. Int J Clin Exp Pathol. .

Abstract

Cells based on therapies are currently gaining momentum in neural tissue engineering to treat spinal cord injury (SCI). The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of the concomitant use of human urine stem cells (hUSCs) and chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) on functional improvement and to explore the expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF). The SCI model was induced by a falling heavy object. hUSCs were cultured and transplanted into the impaired spinal cord with ChABC administration. The Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) scores were valued, and real time PCR, immunofluorescence and Western blot were used to detect the expression of BDNF and NGF. We found that rats receiving both hUSCs and ChABC treatment demonstrated the best functional recovery. In addition, the mRNA and protein expressions of the BDNF and NGF expressions were found to be effectively higher in the combined treatment group than these in the other groups. In conclusion, hUSCs transplantation combined with ChABC administration promotes motor functional recovery in SCI rats, which may be associated with BDNF and NGF regulation.

Keywords: Human urine stem cells; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; chondroitinase ABC; nerve growth factor; spinal cord injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The recovery of motor dysfunction of rats after hUSCs and ChABC transplantation in 14 days. The nerve functions of the rats from each group were evaluated from the baseline to day 14 using the BBB system (n=12 each). SCI: spinal cord injury, hUSCs: human urine stem cells, ChABC: chondroitinase ABC, BBB: Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Hematoxylin-Eosin staining of the spinal cord at the day 14 after hUSCs and ChABC transplantation. A. Sham group; B. SCI group; C. hUSCs+SCI group; D. ChABC+SCI group; E. hUSCs/ChABC+SCI group. SCI: spinal cord injury, hUSCs: human urine stem cells, ChABC: chondroitinase ABC, Scale bars: 50 μm.
Figure 3
Figure 3
mRNA levels of BDNF and NGF of each group were determined by real-time PCR at day 14 after hUSCs and ChABC transplantation. SCI: spinal cord injury, hUSCs: human urine stem cells, ChABC: chondroitinase ABC, BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor, NGF: nerve growth factor.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The immunofluorescence of BDNF and NGF in injured spinal cord at the day 14 after hUSCs and ChABC transplantation. SCI: spinal cord injury, hUSCs: human urine stem cells, ChABC: chondroitinase ABC, BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor, NGF: nerve growth factor, Scale bars: 50 μm.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mean densities of BDNF and NGF in each group. SCI: spinal cord injury, hUSCs: human urine stem cells, ChABC: chondroitinase ABC, BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor, NGF: nerve growth factor.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The western blot assay of BDNF and NGF in injured spinal cord at the day 14 after hUSCs and ChABC transplantation. SCI: spinal cord injury, hUSCs: human urine stem cells, ChABC: chondroitinase ABC, BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor, NGF: nerve growth factor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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