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Axonal regeneration effects of Wnt3a-secreting fibroblast transplantation in spinal cord-injured rats

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Abstract

Background

Axonal regeneration is a prerequisite for recovery from spinal cord injury. Here, we investigated whether Wnt3a-secreting fibroblasts exert a favorable effect on spinal cord regeneration in spinal cord-injured rats.

Methods

Spinal cord injury (SCI) was induced in rats (n = 21) using an NYU impactor. One week after SCI, rats were assigned to a Wnt3a-secreting fibroblast transplantation group (Wnt group, n = 7), a L929 fibroblast transplantation group (vehicle group, n = 7), and contusion only group (sham group, n = 7). Motor function was tested weekly for 6 weeks. Manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (ME-MRI) was performed twice, once before cell transplantation and again 5 weeks after cell transplantation. After ME-MRI, expression of the axonal regeneration marker GAP-43 was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Results

In the Wnt group, the mean Basso–Beattie–Bresnahan score was higher than that of the vehicle and sham groups throughout the observation period. The Wnt group also exhibited stronger signal intensity on ME-MRI, and IHC revealed that GAP-43 was highly expressed in the injured spinal cord in the Wnt group.

Conclusions

These results strongly suggest that transplanted Wnt3a secreting fibroblasts promote axonal regeneration and functional improvement after SCI. Although further investigation will be necessary to clarify the intracellular mechanism by which Wnt signaling promotes axonal regeneration and functional improvement, this approach could be a highly promising therapeutic strategy for SCI.

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Acknowledgment

The authors thank Prof. Eek-hoon Jho in the Department of Life Science, the University of Seoul, for providing us with the cell line Mouse L929 cells and Wnt3a-secreting fibroblasts cells.

This work was supported by a Student Research Grant (09-030) from the University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, by an Asan Life Science Institute Grant (10-241) from the Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, and by the Pioneer Research Center Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2010-0019351).

Conflicts of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Republic of Korea

    Hyung Il Suh

  2. Department of Neurological Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 388-1 Pungnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 138-736, Republic of Korea

    Joongkee Min & Sang Ryong Jeon

  3. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Republic of Korea

    Kyung Hyo Choi

  4. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Republic of Korea

    Seong Who Kim

  5. Department of Neonatology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Republic of Korea

    Ki Soo Kim

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  1. Hyung Il Suh
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Correspondence to Sang Ryong Jeon.

Additional information

Hyung Il Suh and Joongkee Min contributed equally to this work.

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Suh, H.I., Min, J., Choi, K.H. et al. Axonal regeneration effects of Wnt3a-secreting fibroblast transplantation in spinal cord-injured rats. Acta Neurochir 153, 1003–1010 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-011-0945-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-011-0945-1

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