Temporal lobe epilepsy animal model established by stereotaxic microinjection of kainic acid

BACKGROUND： Kainic acid can be used to induce a model of epilepsy by systemic injection, such as intraperitoneal or subcutaneous injection. Individual rats have different responses to kainic acid, therefore high doses of drug are required and the success rate of model induction is low. It is necessary to develop an improved method to establish a temporal lobe epilepsy （TLE） animal model. OBJECTIVE： To explore an economic, stable and efficient method of establishing a TLE animal model. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： A completely randomized, controlled study. The experiments were performed in the Cellular Function Laboratory of the Physiology Department, Anhui Medical University from March to July 2007. MATERIALS： Twenty adult male Wistar rats, weighing 230-260 g, were provided by the Experimental Animal Centre of Nanjing Medical University. Kainic acid was purchased from Sigma in USA. Type SN-2 stereotaxic apparatus was made by Narishge in Japan. METHODS： Wistar rats were randomly divided into a kainic acid （KA） group （n = 12） and a normal saline （NS） group （n = 8）. For intrahippocampal microinjection, a burr hole was drilled in the skull at the following stereotaxic coordinates： anteroposterior （AP） 4.1 mm caudal to bregma; lateral （ML） 4.2 mm right lateral to the midline. Rats in the KA group were injected with 2.5 μL KA （0.4 g/L） into the center of the CA3 region, while in the NS group the same volume of NS was injected into the same site. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Both groups were monitored under a video capture system for 12 weeks to record spontaneous seizures. Intracranial eletroencepholograph （IEEG） recordings in vivo were performed after the behavioral observations. After the IEEG recordings, hippocampi were processed into coronal sections. Nissl and Timm stainings were then performed to observe and confirm pathology. RESULTS： Twenty rats were involved in the final analysis. Behavioral observations： the eadiest spontaneous onset of epilepsy appeared 2 weeks after injection of KA. Eight rats had spontaneous onset of epilepsy 3-12 weeks after treatment. None of rats in the NS group had spontaneous onset of epilepsy. IEEG recordings： Epileptic-form waves, such as sharp waves and spike waves, were calculated by artificial analysis The number of epileptic-form waves in the KA group increased significantly compared to those of the NS group （P 〈 0.01）. Morphology results： In the KA group, Nissl staining and Timm staining revealed typical pathology in the hippocampal temporosphenoid lobe. In the NS group, no pathology was observed. CONCLUSION： Intrahippocampal microinjection of KA is a reliable method to establish a temporal lobe epilepsy animal model, requiring low doses of kainic acid and giving a high rate of success.

Vascular endothelial growth factor/platelet-derived growth factor receptor pathway is involved in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell differentiation and directional migration toward gliomas

BACKGROUND： Vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） induces bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell （BMSC） differentiation into vascular endothelial-like cells and promotes BMSC migration toward gliomas. However, the molecular mechanisms by which VEGF induces BMSC differentiation and migration remain poorly understood. OBJECTIVE; To investigate the role of platelet-derived growth factor （PDGF） receptor （PDGFR） in BMSC differentiation and migration induced by VEGE DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： A parallel, controlled, in vitro experiment was performed at the Molecular Neurobiology ＆ Neural Regeneration and Repairing Laboratory, Anhui Provincial Hospital of Anhui Medical University, China from June 2008 to March 2009. MATERIALS： U87 glioma cells were purchased from Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences; mouse anti-human PDGFR and VEGF receptor （VEGFR） monoclonal antibodies were purchased from Peprotech, USA. METHODS： Isolated BMSCs were precultured with neutralizing antibody for VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, PDGFR-α, and PDGFR-β to block biological activity of related receptors, followed by induced differentiation with 50μg/L VEGF. BMSCs induced with 50μg/L VEGF alone served as the VEGF-induced group. The control group remained untreated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Cell surface markers were identified by flow cytometry; BMSC surface cytokine receptor expression was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction; the Transwell model was used to observe cell migration. RESULTS： After blocking the PDGFR, VEGF did not induce BMSC cell surface marker CD-31 or von Willebrand factor （vWF） expression. However, inhibition with VEGF receptor blocking agents, VEGF induced BMSCs to express CD-31 and vWE Following inhibition of the PDGFR, the number of cells migrating through the polycarbonate membrane Transwell chamber was decreased, as well as the number of BMSCs migrating to glioma cells. However, through the use of VEGF receptor blocking agents, the number of migrating cells remained unchanged. VEGF preculture increased the number of BMSCs migrating to gliomas. CONCLUSION： VEGF interacts with PDGFRs on the BMSC surface to attract BMSC directional migration and induce BMSC differentiation. The VEGF/PDGFR pathway participates in BMSC directional migration to glioma. VEGF pretreatment increased efficiency of BMSC migration to glioma.

Brain gliomas Biological characteristics and correlation with the status of adjacent corticospinal tracts

Malignant behaviors of brain gliomas include proliferation and infiltration.It remains unclear which behavior influences the status of adjacent corticospinal tracts.Diffusion tensor imaging can show the status of brain white matter fiber tracts.Ki-67 and CD44/matrix metalloproteinase 9 are sensitive markers for reflecting the proliferation and infiltration of tumor cells.The present study analyzed pre-operative diffusion tensor images of 24 patients with pathologically confirmed World Health Organization glioma（Ⅰ-Ⅳ）.We observed lapse,infiltration and destruction of the peri-tumor corticospinal tract following reconstruction,and simultaneously detected the expression of Ki-67,CD44/matrix metalloproteinase 9 in samples.Expression of CD44 and matrix metalloproteinase 9was not significantly correlated to the status of the peri-tumor corticospinal tract（r = 1.597,4.859;P = 0.450,0.088）,while Ki-67 expression significantly correlated to its status（r= 6.590,P = 0.037）.These findings demonstrate that highly proliferative gliomas result in damage to the peripheral corticospinal tract.