Article

Direct transplantation of uncultured hair-follicle pluripotent stem (hfPS) cells promotes the recovery of peripheral nerve injury.

Department of Dermatology, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara 228-8555, Japan.
Journal of Cellular Biochemistry (impact factor: 2.87). 05/2010; 110(1):272-7. DOI:10.1002/jcb.22534 pp.272-7
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT We previously showed that the stem cell marker nestin is expressed in hair follicle stem cells which suggested their pluripotency. We subsequently showed that the nestin-expressing hair-follicle pluripotent stem (hfPS) cells can differentiate in culture to neurons, glial cells, keratinocytes, and other cell types and can promote regeneration of peripheral nerve and spinal cord injuries upon injection to the injured nerve or spinal cord. The location of the hfPS cells has been termed the hfPS cell area (hfPSCA). Previously, hfPS cells were cultured for 1-2 months before transplantation to the injured nerve or spinal cord which would not be optimal for clinical application of these cells for nerve or spinal cord repair, since the patient should be treated soon after injury. In the present study, we addressed this issue by directly using the upper part of the hair follicle containing the hfPSCA, without culture, for injection into the severed sciatic nerve in mice. After injection of hfPSCA, the implanted hfPS cells grew and promoted joining of the severed nerve. The transplanted hfPS cells differentiated mostly to glial cells forming myelin sheaths, which promoted axonal growth and functional recovery of the severed nerve. These results suggest that the direct transplantation of the uncultured upper part of the hair follicle containing the hfPSA is an important method to promote the recovery of peripheral nerve injuries and has significant clinical potential.

0 0
 · 
1 Bookmark
 · 
65 Views
  • Source
    Article: Nitric oxide signaling and neural stem cell differentiation in peripheral nerve regeneration.
    Jessica Tao Li, Chandra Somasundaram, Ka Bian, Weijun Xiong, Faiz Mahmooduddin, Rahul K Nath, Ferid Murad
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: Objective: The objective was to examine whether nitric oxide signaling plays a role in human embryonic stem cell differentiation into neural cells. This article reviews current literature on nitric oxide signaling and neural stem cell differentiation for potential therapeutic application to peripheral nerve regeneration. Methods: Human embryonic H9-stem cells were grown, maintained on mitomycin C-treated mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder layer, cultured on Matrigel to be feeder-free, and used for all the experiments. Fluorescent dual-immunolabeling and confocal image analysis were used to detect the presence of the neural precursor cell markers nestin and nitric oxide synthase-1. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis was used to determine the percentage of expression. Results: We have shown the confocal image of stage 1 human embryonic stem cells coexpressing nestin and nitric oxide synthase-1. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis indicated 24.3% positive labeling of nitric oxide synthase-1. Adding retinoic acid (10(-6) M) to the culture medium increased the percent of nitric oxide synthase-1 positive cells to 33.9%. Combining retinoic acid (10(-6) M) with 8-brom cyclic guanosine monophosphate (10(-5) M), the fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis demonstrated a further increase of nitric oxide synthase-1 positive cells to 45.4%. Our current results demonstrate a prodifferentiation potency of nitric oxide synthase-1, stimulated by retinoic acid with and without cyclic guanosine monophosphate. Conclusion: We demonstrated for the first time how nitric oxide/cyclic guanosine monophosphate signaling contributes to the development of neural precursors derived from human embryonic stem cells and enhances the differentiation of precursors toward functional neurons for peripheral nerve regeneration.
    Eplasty 01/2010; 10:e42.
Data provided are for informational purposes only. Although carefully collected, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The impact factor represents a rough estimation of the journal's impact factor and does not reflect the actual current impact factor. Publisher conditions are provided by RoMEO. Differing provisions from the publisher's actual policy or licence agreement may be applicable.

Keywords

cell types
 
clinical application
 
direct transplantation
 
functional recovery
 
glial cells
 
hfPS cell area
 
hfPS cells
 
implanted hfPS cells
 
injured nerve
 
myelin sheaths
 
nestin-expressing hair-follicle pluripotent
 
peripheral nerve
 
peripheral nerve injuries
 
promoted axonal growth
 
severed nerve
 
severed sciatic nerve
 
significant clinical potential
 
spinal cord injuries
 
transplanted hfPS cells differentiated
 
uncultured upper part
 

Yasuyuki Amoh