依达拉奉联合神经干细胞移植修复大鼠脊髓损伤

背景：依达拉奉是一种自由基清除药,可以减轻受损神经组织水肿和改善脊髓损伤区微环境。 目的：观察依达拉奉联合神经干细胞移植对大鼠脊髓全横断损伤的修复效果。 方法：成年雌性SD大鼠80只,建立胸9脊髓全横断损伤模型,随机分为4组：对照组不做处理;依达拉奉组脊髓损伤后6 h经尾静脉注射依达拉奉;神经干细胞移植组脊髓损伤后6 h脊髓损伤区域注入神经干细胞悬液;依达拉奉+细胞移植组脊髓损伤后6 h神经干细胞移植的同时尾静脉注射依达拉奉。 结果与结论：造模后8周可观察到PKH-26标记的神经干细胞在体内存活并在脊髓内迁移;细胞移植组和依达拉奉联+细胞移植组可见少量连续性神经纤维通过损伤区。荧光金逆行脊髓追踪显示神经干细胞移植组和依达拉奉+细胞移植组可见被荧光金标记的神经锥体细胞穿越损伤区。PKH-26标记的阳性细胞数及荧光金阳性神经纤维数：依达拉奉+细胞移植组最多,依达拉奉组、神经干细胞移植组次之,对照组最少,各组之间差异有显著性意义(P < 0.05);后肢功能运动BBB评分依次为依达拉奉+细胞移植组>神经干细胞移植组>依达拉奉组>对照组。提示依达拉奉能促进神经干细胞在损伤区的存活并向神经细胞分化,依达拉奉联合神经干细胞移植有促进细胞移植修复大鼠脊髓损伤的效果。     

神经干细胞移植对小鼠脊髓损伤的影响

目的观察神经干细胞(NSCs)移植对脊髓损伤(SCI)小鼠功能恢复的影响。方法分离、培养、增殖和纯化E14-17d小鼠的NSCs,并通过免疫荧光法对其进行鉴定。将绿色荧光蛋白转基因小鼠的NSCs移植到小鼠脊髓损伤模型体内,术后进行行为学和病理学检测,观察小鼠功能恢复情况。运用改良Allen's法制备小鼠T10-T11脊髓损伤动物模型,动物分为假手术组(12只)、模型组(12只),治疗组(12只)和对照组6(12只)。治疗组每只小鼠自眶静脉注射NSCs悬液200μl(2×10个细胞),对照组只注射DMEM/F12培养基200μl。术后1d、3d、7d、14d、21d、28d和56d,进行BBB运动功能评分和病理学检测,观察植入区细胞生长变化情况。结果 BBB评分显示:治疗组明显高于对照组(<0.01),治疗组与假手术组相比没有明显差异(>0.05),说明NSCs移植后小鼠的行为学得到了明显改善,功能有所恢复。病理学检测发现,移植后NSCs不仅迁移到脊髓损伤区,而且与宿主细胞较好地整合。结论移植的E14-17d胚胎小鼠NSCs不仅可在脊髓损伤部位存活并和宿主细胞整合,而且可促进小鼠后肢运动功能恢复。     

Lithium enhanced cell proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells to neural cells in rat spinal cord

Lithium has been shown to inhibit apoptosis of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and promote differentiation of NPCs. However, there was rare data to discuss the effects of lithium on neural differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Here, we investigated the potential promotion of lithium to MSC proliferation and neural differentiation in vitro and after transplanted into the ventral horn of rat spinal cord in vivo. We found that lithium possesses the ability to promote proliferation of GFP-MSCs in a dose dependent manner as verified by growth curve and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assays; While in neural induction medium, lithium (0.1 mM) promotes neural differentiation of GFP-MSCs as verified by immunostaining and quantitative analysis. After transplantation of GFP-MSCs into the rat spinal cord, lithium treatment enhanced cell survival and neural differentiation after transplantation as verified by immunohistochemistry. These data suggested that lithium could be a potential drug to augment the therapeutic efficiency of MSCs transplantation therapy in central nervous system (CNS) disorders.     

骨髓间充质干细胞移植脊髓损伤小鼠运动功能的恢复

背景：研究证实,移植的骨髓间充质干细胞可被定向诱导分化为神经细胞,重建神经环路,促进轴突再生,恢复脊髓功能。 目的：进一步验证骨髓间充质干细胞在脊髓损伤修复中的作用。 方法：C57BL/6小鼠40只随机分为4组,假手术组不打击脊髓;其余小鼠采用重物撞击法建立脊髓损伤模型。损伤后的第7天,治疗组用微量注射器,经眶静脉丛注入骨髓间充质干细胞悬液;对照组注入等量 DMEM培养基;模型组不做处理。通过苏木精-伊红染色法判断脊髓损伤程度。通过免疫细胞化学法鉴定骨髓间充质干细胞分化形成的神经细胞。通过荧光显微镜观察移植细胞生长状态;通过改良Tarlov评分法评价小鼠运动功能恢复程度。 结果与结论：骨髓间充质干细胞诱导分化7 d后的细胞呈NF和神经胶质纤维酸性蛋白阳性表达。模型组小鼠双下肢呈瘫痪状态,假手术组行动正常(P < 0.01)。细胞移植后2周,治疗组小鼠运动功能缺失症状逐渐恢复,对照组小鼠恢复不明显 (P < 0.05);细胞移植4周后,细胞移植组小鼠Tarlov评分与假手术组相比差异无显著性意义(P > 0.05)。说明骨髓间充质干细胞移植可提高脊髓损伤小鼠的运动能力。     

新生小鼠脑内移植荧光标记的孤雌胚胎干细胞的研究

目的通过将孤雌胚胎干细胞(parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells,PgESCs)移植到新生鼠脑内,观察其增殖及向神经细胞方向分化的形态特点。方法分别向出生24h及72h小鼠脑内注射增强型绿色荧光蛋白(enhanced green fluorescence protein,EGFP)标记的孤雌胚胎干细胞,并于移植3d和7d后进行取材、观察。结果与对照组相比,出生24h和72h后进行干细胞移植的新生鼠中,移植3d后,孤雌胚胎干细胞可以稳定的在小鼠脑内生长,形态和分布无明显变化;7d后能够分化为具有神经细胞样突起的细胞团。结论 PgESCs具有胚胎干细胞相似的体内分化潜能,为中枢神经系统疾病的细胞替代治疗奠定理论基础。     

Allodynia limits the usefulness of intraspinal neural stem cell grafts; directed differentiation improves outcome

Several studies have reported functional improvement after transplantation of neural stem cells into injured spinal cord. We now provide evidence that grafting of adult neural stem cells into a rat thoracic spinal cord weight-drop injury improves motor recovery but also causes aberrant axonal sprouting associated with allodynia-like hypersensitivity of forepaws. Transduction of neural stem cells with neurogenin-2 before transplantation suppressed astrocytic differentiation of engrafted cells and prevented graft-induced sprouting and allodynia. Transduction with neurogenin-2 also improved the positive effects of engrafted stem cells, including increased amounts of myelin in the injured area, recovery of hindlimb locomotor function and hindlimb sensory responses, as determined by functional magnetic resonance imaging. These findings show that stem cell transplantation into injured spinal cord can cause severe side effects and call for caution in the consideration of clinical trials.     

大鼠胚胎脑和脊髓神经干细胞分化特性比较

体外分离大鼠胚胎脑和脊髓神经干细胞,经培养传代后,撤除生长因子(bFGF和EGF)并给予 1%胎牛血清促其自然分化,然后比较两者的分化规律,以及传代次数对分化的影响。结果发现:在完全相同的培养条件下,来源于脑和脊髓的神经干细胞均可分化为神经元、少突胶质细胞和星形胶质细胞,但两者分化为神经元的能力均随细胞体外传代次数的增加而显著下降 (P<0. 05);此外,脑来源的神经干细胞分化为神经元的能力远高于脊髓来源的神经干细胞 (P<0. 01)。提示,来自中枢神经系统不同部位的神经干细胞在分化潜力上存在差别,体外传代会影响神经干细胞的分化能力。     

In vitro and in vivo characterization of neurally modified mesenchymal stem cells induced by epigenetic modifiers and neural stem cell environment

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-mediated tissue regeneration is a promising strategy to treat several neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic injuries of the central nervous system. Bone marrow MSCs have great potential as therapeutic agents, since they are easy to isolate and expand and are capable of producing various cell types, including neural cells. Recently we developed a highly efficient methodology to produce neural stem-like and neural precursor-like cells from mice bone marrow-derived MSCs that eventually differentiate into neuronal- and glial-like cells in vitro. The aim of this study is to further elucidate neural expression profile of neurally induced mesenchymal stem cells (NI-MSCs) and their ability to retain neural differentiation potential when grafted into the intact spinal cord of rats. To this end, we further characterized in vitro and in vivo properties of NI-MSCs by immunocytochemistry, Western blot, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry. Immunocytochemical data demonstrated that NI-MSCs express several mature neural markers such as B3T, GFAP MAP-2, NF-200, and NeuN, which were confirmed through Western blot. ELISA data showed that NI-MSCs release nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In vivo studies demonstrated that grafted NI-MSCs survived after transplantation into intact spinal cord and produced cells that expressed neural markers. All these data suggest that neurally modified MSCs, induced by recently developed methodology, could be a potential source of cells to replace damaged neurons and glia in injured spinal cord, and/or to promote cell survival and axonal growth of host tissue.     

施万细胞对植入大鼠脊髓损伤区内的神经干细胞存活和分化的影响

目的 探讨施万细胞对植入损伤脊髓内的神经干细胞的存活及其分化的影响。方法 分离和克隆新生大鼠海马组织的神经干细胞；同时获取坐骨神经和臂丛神经，从中分离和纯化施万细胞。在移植前先用核荧光(Hoechst33342)标记神经干细胞。实验组为神经干细胞和施万细胞联合移植入大鼠脊髓半横断处，对照组为单独神经干细胞移植。应用免疫组织化学和酶组织化学技术，在移植后7d、14d、21d和30d分别观察神经干细胞的存活和分化情况。结果 实验组的神经干细胞比对照组迁移的更远，分化为神经丝蛋白染色阳性神经元样细胞的数量比对照组的多，并且有较长的突起长出。在30d实验组中，移植的神经干细胞有部分呈乙酰胆碱酯酶(AchE)染色阳性。而在对照组中，移植区内仅有少数呈AchE染色弱阳性的神经干细胞。结论 在脊髓损伤处，施万细胞可促进移植的神经干细胞存活、迁移和向神经元样细胞分化；有些神经元样细胞能长出较长的突起，有些呈现乙酰胆碱酯酶活性。     

神经干细胞移植治疗脊髓损伤

背景：研究已证实神经干细胞能促进脊髓损伤大鼠神经功能的恢复,但对移植细胞在体内的增殖、分化、迁移的研究有限。 目的：观察神经干细胞移植对脊髓损伤大鼠后肢运动功能修复的影响。 方法：SD大鼠制成T10脊髓全横断损伤模型,于造模成功后1周采用局部微量注射法。随机数字表法分为3组：损伤对照组仅打开椎管暴露脊髓;移植对照组：注射10 μL DMEM/F12培养液;细胞移植组：造模后移植浓度为1.0×109 L-1的神经干细胞悬液10 μL。移植后通过不同时间点BBB行为评分、病理组织学、免疫荧光技术评价大鼠脊髓功能修复情况及移植细胞在体内的存活、迁移、分化。 结果与结论：在体外成功建立SD大鼠海马源性神经干细胞培养体系;移植对照组、细胞移植组大鼠随着时间延长BBB评分均不同程度提高,从移植后2周起细胞移植组大鼠评分明显高于移植对照组(P < 0.05);神经干细胞移植后能够在体内继续存活、迁移并且分化为NF-200、GFAP表达阳性的神经元及星形胶质细胞。提示神经干细胞移植治疗脊髓损伤是一种有效的方法。     

低频电磁场促进骨髓间充质干细胞移植修复大鼠脊髓损伤的实验研究

背景：骨髓间充质干细胞移植治疗脊髓损伤被视为一种有前途的治疗方法,如何更有效地促进骨髓间充质干细胞在脊髓损伤区存活,加速脊髓损伤肢体运动功能的恢复是目前研究的重点。前期研究发现,低频电磁场能够促进骨髓间充质干细胞的增殖分化,低频电磁场是否可应用于骨髓间充质干细胞移植治疗脊髓损伤还需进一步研究。 目的：探讨低频电磁场对移植骨髓间充质干细胞脊髓损伤大鼠后肢运动功能恢复的影响。 方法：采用脊髓压迫法制备64只T10不完全性脊髓损伤大鼠模型,随机等分为对照组、骨髓间充质干细胞组、电磁场组和电磁场+骨髓间充质干细胞组。造模成功后,骨髓间充质干细胞组和电磁场+骨髓间充质干细胞组大鼠脊髓损伤原部位注射大鼠全贴壁法分离培养BrdU标记的骨髓间充质干细胞,对照组和电磁场组注射a-MEM培养液。造模术后24 h,电磁场组和电磁场+骨髓间充质干细胞组予60 min/d的低频电磁场刺激(频率50 Hz、强度5 mT)。 结果与结论：骨髓间充质干细胞移植后第21天,电磁场+骨髓间充质干细胞组BBB评分与其他组相比,差异有显著性意义(P < 0.05),与其他各组比较,电磁场+骨髓间充质干细胞组移植细胞后,大鼠BrdU阳性细胞在脊髓损伤区域生长并与脊髓组织融合,存活细胞数量较其他组多;空洞面积小;损伤区胶质纤维酸性蛋白表达更少,而基质金属蛋白2表达更多;脊髓损伤大鼠下肢运动功能恢复最快(P < 0.05)。提示低频电磁场促进了移植骨髓间充质干细胞脊髓损伤大鼠后肢运动功能的恢复,可能与低频电磁场有利于损伤区移植骨髓间充质干细胞的存活,上调基质金属蛋白2的表达并减少胶质瘢痕的形成有关。     

促红细胞生成素促进脊髓损伤大鼠移植神经干细胞存活和迁移

背景：如何有效促进移植入脊髓损伤组织内的神经干细胞存活和迁移,是目前神经修复研究的重点。 目的：观察促红细胞生成素对脊髓损伤大鼠移植神经干细胞存活、增殖和迁移的影响。 方法：将60只SD大鼠随机分为3组,均制备脊髓横断损伤模型。造模7 d,神经干细胞移植组和促红细胞生成素组于脊髓损伤处移植BrdU标记的神经干细胞7 μL(1×10⁹ L^-1),脊髓损伤对照组移植DMEM/F12培养基;促红细胞生成素组腹腔内注射促红细胞生成素5 000 U/kg,1次/d,连续注射7 d,其余两组注射等量生理盐水。于细胞移植后8周取损伤脊髓组织。 结果与结论：造模2周后,神经干细胞移植组和促红细胞生成素组BBB评分明显高于脊髓损伤对照组(P < 0.05),造模4周后,促红细胞生成素组BBB评分明显高于神经干细胞移植组(P < 0.05)。免疫荧光染色显示促红细胞生成素组大鼠损伤脊髓组织BrdU阳性细胞数量及迁移距离均大于神经干细胞移植组(P < 0.05)。说明促红细胞生成素能促进损伤脊髓组织原位移植的神经干细胞的存活与迁移,加速神经功能修复。     

脊髓神经管神经上皮干细胞的分离培养和诱导分化

目的：从胚胎大鼠脊髓神经管中分离神经上皮干细胞并诱导其向多巴胺能神经元方向分化。方法：利用无血清悬浮培养、单细胞克隆技术分离神经上皮干细胞；采用5－溴－2－脱氧尿苷（BrdU）标记新生细胞，免疫细胞化学单标或双标染色技术，检测神经上皮干细胞蛋白（nestin）和分化后特异性神经细胞抗原的表达；用纹状体组织提取液，诱导神经上皮干细胞向多巴胺能神经元方向分化。结果：从胚胎大鼠脊髓神经管 中分离的细胞可以连续传代，表达nestin，它们分化后可以表达神经元、星形胶质细胞和少突胶质细胞的特异性抗原；与对照组3％相比，纹状体组织提取液可以诱导这些细胞中的12％分化成为多巴胺能神经元。结论：分离自脊髓神经管的细胞具有自我更新能力和多分化潜能（multipotent)，是增殖能力很强的神经干细胞；这些干细胞在一定的体外环境中能被诱导成为特定的神经元，提示其可以为神经移植提供材料。     

脊髓神经干细胞对小鼠视网膜移植的研究

目的　研究原代培养的脊髓神经干细胞在小鼠视网膜的整合和分化情况。　方法　利用细胞培养和体内移植技术 ,将原代脊髓神经干细胞 (NSC)移植到不同年龄小鼠的视网膜 ,并对移植后细胞的整合及分化情况进行了免疫组织化学分析。　结果　 1 移植的NSC对组织的整合能力随宿主年龄的增加而降低 ;2 移植的NSC在宿主视网膜内可以分化为星形胶质细胞、少突胶质细胞和神经元。　结论　脊髓原代NSC移植到小鼠视网膜后的整合和分化均受内外因素的调控 ,为NSC的体内分化研究提供了新的证据     

碱性成纤维细胞生长因子促进脊髓损伤小鼠内源性神经干细胞的增殖

BACKGROUND:So far steroid pulse therapy and surgical decompression are the main accepted therapies for spinal cord injury, but these methods make no effects on injured neurons. Nerve growth factors and endogenous neural stem cells play a role in the neuronal regeneration and remyelination, which provides a new idea for spinal cord injury treatment. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effect of the basic fibroblast growth factor on proliferation of endogenous neural stem cells after spinal cord injury and to analyze its relationship with the increased fluoro-gold labeled neurons. METHODS:Totally 48 Kunming mice were randomly divided into four groups including normal, spinal cord injury, treatment and sham operation groups. Acute spinal cord injury models were established in the spinal cord injury and treatment groups, and the normal group was subjected to operation that did not damage the spinal cord. At 2 hours after regaining consciousness, the treatment group was given daily injection of MTPBS containing 25 μg/kg basic fibroblast growth factors and 1% album. And at 7 days, laminectomy was carried out again at the L1 segment in the former three groups and a small piece of sterile gelfoam soaked with fluoro-gold was inserted into the incision. The sham operation group was given no processing. Afterwards, mouse motor behavior was assessed using Rotarod and Platform Hang tests; neurons in the corticospinal and rubrospinal tracts were labeled with fluoro-gold; the number of endogenous neural stem cells positive for nestin was detected by immunohistochemistry method. Besides, the correlation between the number of fluoro-gold labeled neurons and the number of endogenous neural stem cells was assessed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The basic fibroblast growth factor could significantly improve the mouse motor behavior after spinal cord injury. And the number of endogenous neural stem cells was significantly increased after the basic fibroblast growth factor injection, which was related to the increased fluoro-gold labeled neurons. In conclusion, basic fibroblast growth factors play an important role in the proliferation of endogenous neural stem cells after spinal cord injury. Furthermore, endogenous neural stem cells improve locomotive behaviors by encouraging the neuronal proliferation.     

静脉移植CXCR-4基因转染骨髓间充质干细胞在脊髓损伤鼠体内的迁移与分化

背景：研究发现,基质细胞衍生因子1/CXCR-4轴具有介导骨髓间充质干细胞定向迁移的作用。 目的：观察静脉移植CXCR-4基因转染间充质干细胞治疗脊髓损伤的可行性。 方法：利用脊髓横切法构建C57BL/6小鼠T10脊髓损伤模型,造模后7 d抽签随机分成3组：实验组经尾静脉注射CXCR-4基因转染同种异体骨髓间充质干细胞悬液,对照组与空白对照组分别注射同种异体骨髓间充质干细胞悬液及无细胞培养基。移植后第7,14,21,28天利用激光共聚焦显微镜、免疫组织化学双标染色法检测脊髓损伤部位绿色荧光蛋白阳性细胞迁移存活及分化情况,并采用BBB评分评估小鼠神经运动功能恢复情况。 结果与结论：实验组移植后各时相点损伤灶内绿色荧光蛋白阳性细胞集聚明显,数量不断增多,迁移率明显高于对照组与空白对照组,来源于骨髓间充质干细胞的神经细胞占移植细胞的比例亦高于对照组与空白对照组,小鼠神经运动功能恢复明显。说明静脉移植CXCR-4基因转染的骨髓间充质干细胞表现出对脊髓损伤灶更强的定向迁移能力,且能在损伤灶内存活、分化,发挥修复损伤脊髓作用。     

胚胎大鼠脊髓神经干细胞体外培养与定向分化为胆碱能神经元的研究

为了研究胚胎大鼠脊髓源神经干细胞(ESCSCs)的培养和体外分化为胆碱能神经元的情况,本文从孕龄13d的胚胎大鼠脊髓组织中分离获得神经干细胞,采用含表皮生长因子(EGF)及碱性成纤维细胞生长因子(bFGF)的无血清限定性培养基培养,并通过添加维甲酸(RA)、音猬因子(SHH)和神经营养因子-3(NT-3)等诱导因子,进行干细胞体外诱导,用免疫荧光细胞化学方法观测其向胆碱能神经元分化的情况。结果表明:从胚胎脊髓中可分离得到大量的神经干细胞,通过含EGF和bFGF的限定性培养基培养可获得干细胞球,通过添加RA、SHH和NT-3等诱导因子后,可见有胆碱能神经元生成。本研究结果提示,胚胎大鼠脊髓神经干细胞在添加EGF与bFGF的限定性培养基中可以增殖并长期保持稳定的ESCSCs性状,在添加特殊因子的条件下,并在体外ESCSCs可以被定向诱导分化为胆碱能神经元。     

Endogenous neural stem cells in central canal of adult rats acquired limited ability to differentiate into neurons following mild spinal cord injury

Endogenous neural stem cells in central canal of adult mammalian spinal cord exhibit stem cell properties following injury. In the present study, the endogenous neural stem cells were labeled with Dil to track the differentiation of cells after mild spinal cord injury (SCI). Compared with 1 and 14 days post mild injury, the number of endogenous neural stem cells significantly increased at the injured site of spinal cord on 3 and 7 days post-injury. Dil-labeled βIII-tublin and GFAP expressing cells could be detected on 7 days post-injury, which indicated that the endogenous neural stem cells in central canal of spinal cord differentiated into different type of neural cells, but there were more differentiated astrocytes than the neurons after injury. Furthermore, after injury the expression of inhibitory Notch1 and Hes1 mRNA began to increase at 6 hours and was evident at 12 and 24 hours, which maintained high levels up to 7 days post-injury. These results indicated that a mild SCI in rat is sufficient to induce endogenous neural stem cells proliferation and differentiation. However, the ability to differentiate into neurons is limited, which may be, at least in part, due to high expression of inhibitory Notch1 and Hes1 genes after injury.     

Intravenously transplanted human neural stem cells migrate to the injured spinal cord in adult mice in an SDF-1- and HGF-dependent manner

Neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation has exhibited considerable therapeutic potential in spinal cord injury. However, most experiments in animals have been performed by injecting these cells directly into the injured spinal cord. A cardinal feature of NSCs is their exceptional migratory ability through the nervous system. Based on the migratory ability of NSCs, we investigated whether minimally invasive intravenous delivery of NSCs could facilitate their migration to the injured spinal cord and identified the chemo-attractants secreted by the lesions. Nude mice were injected intravenously with labelled human NSCs at 3, 7 and 10 days after the compression of the spinal cord at the T8 level. The migration of NSCs to the lesioned spinal cord was highest at 7 days after injury; this correlated with the peak of hepatocyte growth factor and stromal cell-derived factor-1 mRNA expressions in the lesion but not with the disruption of the blood-brain barrier. Finally, the grafted NSCs differentiated into neuronal and glial subpopulations at 21 days after transplantation. Our study suggests that intravenously administered NSCs can be employed as a renewable source for replacing lost cells for the treatment of spinal cord injuries.     

Significance of remyelination by neural stem/progenitor cells transplanted into the injured spinal cord

Previous reports of functional recovery from spinal cord injury (SCI) in rodents and monkeys after the delayed transplantation of neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PCs) have raised hopes that stem cell therapy could be used to treat SCI in humans. More research is needed, however, to understand the mechanism of functional recovery. Oligodendrocytes derived from grafted NS/PCs remyelinate spared axons in the injured spinal cord. Here, we studied the extent of this remyelination's contribution to functional recovery following contusive SCI in mice. To isolate the effect of remyelination from other possible regenerative benefits of the grafted cells, NS/PCs obtained from myelin-deficient shiverer mutant mice (shi-NS/PCs) were used in this work alongside wild-type NS/PCs (wt-NS/PCs). shi-NS/PCs behaved like wt-NS/PCs in vitro and in vivo, with the exception of their myelinating potential. shi-NS/PC-derived oligodendrocytes did not express myelin basic protein in vitro and formed much thinner myelin sheaths in vivo compared with wt-NS/PC-derived oligodendrocytes. The transplantation of shi-NS/PCs promoted some locomotor and electrophysiological functional recovery but significantly less than that afforded by wt-NS/PCs. These findings establish the biological importance of remyelination by graft-derived cells for functional recovery after the transplantation of NS/PCs into the injured spinal cord.