Mild hypothermia combined with a scaffold of Ng Rsilenced neural stem cells/Schwann cells to treat spinal cord injury

Because the inhibition of Nogo proteins can promote neurite growth and nerve cell differentiation, a cell-scaffold complex seeded with Nogo receptor （NgR）-silenced neural stem cells and Schwann cells may be able to improve the microenvironment for spinal cord injury repair. Previous studies have found that mild hypothermia helps to attenuate secondary damage in the spinal cord and exerts a neuroprotective effect. Here, we constructed a cell-scaffold complex consisting of a poly（D,L-lactide-co-glycolic acid） （PLGA） scaffold seeded with NgR-silenced neural stem cells and Schwann cells, and determined the effects of mild hypothermia combined with the cell-scaffold complexes on the spinal cord hemi-transection injury in the T9 segment in rats. Compared with the PLGA group and the NgR-silencing cells ＋ PLGA group, hindlimb motor function and nerve electrophysiological function were dearly improved, pathological changes in the injured spinal cord were attenuated, and the number of surviving cells and nerve fibers were increased in the group treated with the NgR-silenced cell scaffold ＋ mild hypothermia at 34℃ for 6 hours. Furthermore, fewer pathological changes to the injured spinal cord and more surviving cells and nerve fibers were found after mild hypothermia therapy than in injuries not treated with mild hypothermia. These experimental results indicate that mild hypothermia combined with NgR gene-silenced cells in a PLGA scaffold may be an effective therapy for treating spinal cord injury.

Transplantation of Nogo-66 receptor gene-silenced cells in a poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) scaffold for the treatment of spinal cord injury

Inhibition of neurite growth, which is in large part mediated by the Nogo-66 receptor, affects neural regeneration following bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation. The tissue engineering scaffold poly（D,L-lactide-co-glycolic acid） has good histocompatibility and can promote the growth of regenerating nerve fibers. The present study used small interfering RNA to silence Nogo-66 receptor gene expression in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and Schwann cells, which were subsequently transplanted with poly（D,L-lactide-co-glycolic acid） into the spinal cord lesion regions in rats. Simultaneously, rats treated with scaffold only were taken as the control group. Hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry revealed that at 4 weeks after transplantation, rats had good motor function of the hind limb after treatment with Nogo-66 receptor gene-silenced ceils prus the poly（O,L-lactide-co-glycolic acid） scaffold compared with rats treated with scaffold only, and the number of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and neuron-like cells was also increased. At 8 weeks after transplantation, horseradish peroxidase tracing and transmission electron microscopy showed a large number of unmyelinated and myelinated nerve fibers, as well as intact regenerating axonal myelin sheath following spinal cord hemisection injury. These experimental findings indicate that transplantation of Nogo-66 receptor gene-silenced bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and Schwann cells plus a poly（D,L-lactide-co-glycolic acid） scaffold can significantly enhance axonal regeneration of spinal cord neurons and improve motor function of the extremities in rats following spinal cord injury.