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Schwann cell transplantation enhances diaphragm recovery following cervical spinal cord injury
Author(s) -
Mercier Lynne,
Arias Natalia,
GonzalezRothi Elisa,
Little L. Nicole,
Fuller David,
Muir Elizabeth,
Rogers John,
Bunge Mary,
Lane Michael,
Reier Paul
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.lb49
Subject(s) - medicine , spinal cord , spinal cord injury , respiratory system , lesion , diaphragm (acoustics) , brainstem , transplantation , immunosuppression , anesthesia , pathology , surgery , anatomy , physics , psychiatry , acoustics , loudspeaker
Respiratory function is compromised following cervical spinal cord injuries (cSCI) due to interruption of respiratory pathways. Peripheral nerve grafts, a source of Schwann cells (SCs), alone or in combination with other treatments have been reported to promote improved respiration after cervical hemisection. SC transplantation in a contusion model has shown to improve locomotor function. In this study, we looked at how SCs would affect respiration in a clinically‐relevant contusion cSCI model. Adult female rats received lateralized C3/C4 contusion cSCI, leading to a rapid shallow breathing pattern (RSB). At 1 week post‐injury, animals were injected into the lesion site with SCs (~2.5 million) expressing either mCherry or green fluorescent protein ( gfp ). Controls were lesioned only. Animals receiving SCs were immunosuppressed. Respiratory function under eupneic and hypercapnic conditions was assessed. Histological analyses confirmed survival of SCs. Our initial findings show that RSB was absent in SC recipients, which also had improvement in diaphragm EMG activity during hypercapnia. Preliminary results with grafts of SCs expressing Chondroitinase ABC did not have any additional effect. These preliminary results suggest SCs can alone promote recovery after experimental cSCI. Identifying substrates mediating this recovery and how brainstem plasticity is affected also are under investigation.