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Laminin‐coated filaments co‐grafted with Schwann cells and GDNF direct axonal growth following rat thoracic spinal cord injury (729.2)
Author(s) -
Deng Lingxiao,
Walker Chandler,
Wen Xuejun,
Xu XiaoMing
Publication year - 2014
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.28.1_supplement.729.2
Subject(s) - axon , glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor , neurotrophic factors , laminin , anatomy , spinal cord , matrigel , spinal cord injury , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , neuroscience , extracellular matrix , cell , biochemistry , receptor
Biomaterials are ideal for promoting directional axon growth after spinal cord injury (SCI). We assessed effects of unidirectional polypropylene filaments of varying densities combined with laminin, glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and Schwann cells (SCs) on axon regrowth after T10 spinal hemisection in adult rats. Filaments reduced lesion cavity ~90% compared with non‐filament group and attenuated astrogliosis and inflammation (p < 0.001). Low density filaments promoted more axons (324.4±36.5) and vascular growth (226±49.3) over no filament, middle and high density filament grafting (p < 0.05). Laminin pre‐coated filaments were optimal for axon and vascular regrowth compared with matrigel and hydrogel. To evaluate axon orientation, axons randomly selected at the graft interface were traced by ‘best fit’ lines. The angle between axon lines and filaments parallel to the rostral‐caudal axis of the cord defined orientation (0° = parallel and 90° = perpendicular to the axis). Filament group axon angles were less than the non‐filament group (24.3±7.8° vs. 44.7°±8.3°; p < 0.01). This directional effect was enhanced by co‐grafting SCs and GDNF. Thus, combination of filaments, laminin, SCs and GDNF provided sub‐micron topographic cues for directional axon regrowth revealing new insight for large lesion gap repair and functional recovery after SCI. Grant Funding Source : NIH grants NS036350, NS052290, NS050243, NS059622, the Daniel Heumann Fund for Spinal Cord Research