Isolation, expansion and transplantation of postnatal murine progenitor cells of the enteric nervous system.

ABSTRACT: Neural stem or progenitor cells have been proposed to restore gastrointestinal function in patients suffering from congenital or acquired defects of the enteric nervous system. Various, mainly embryonic cell sources have been identified for this purpose. However, immunological and ethical issues make a postnatal cell based therapy desirable. We therefore evaluated and quantified the potential of progenitor cells of the postnatal murine enteric nervous system to give rise to neurons and glial cells in vitro. Electrophysiological analysis and BrdU uptake studies provided direct evidence that generated neurons derive from expanded cells in vitro. Transplantation of isolated and expanded postnatal progenitor cells into the distal colon of adult mice demonstrated cell survival for 12 weeks (end

SUBMITTER: Dettmann HM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4037209 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature