Transplanted astrocytes derived from BMP- or CNTF-treated glial-restricted precursors have opposite effects on recovery and allodynia after spinal cord injury.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Two critical challenges in developing cell-transplantation therapies for injured or diseased tissues are to identify optimal cells and harmful side effects. This is of particular concern in the case of spinal cord injury, where recent studies have shown that transplanted neuroepithelial stem cells can generate pain syndromes.

Results

We have previously shown that astrocytes derived from glial-restricted precursor cells (GRPs) treated with bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) can promote robust axon regeneration and functional recovery when transplanted into rat spinal cord injuries. In contrast, we now show that transplantation of GRP-derived astrocytes (GDAs) generated by exposure to the gp130 agonist ciliary neurotrophic factor (GDAs(CNTF)), the other major sign

SUBMITTER: Davies JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2776404 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature