Adult neurogenesis from reprogrammed astrocytes

The details of adult neurogenesis,including environmental triggers,region specificity,and species homology remain an area of intense investigation.Slowing or halting age-related cognitive dysfunction,or restoring neurons lost to disease or injury represent just a fraction of potential therapeutic applications.New neurons can derive from stem cells,pluripotent neural progenitor cells,or non-neuronal glial cells,such as astrocytes.Astrocytes must be epigeneticallyreprogrammedto become neurons,which can occur both naturally in vivo,and via artificial exogenous treatments.While neural progenitor cells are localized to a few neurogenic zones in the adult brain,astrocytes populate almost every brain structure.In this review,we will summarize recent research into neurogenesis that arises from conversion of post-mitotic astrocytes,detail the genetic and epigenetic pathways that regulate this process,and discuss the possible clinical relevance in supplementing stem-cell neurogenic therapies.     

再程序化脂肪源性干细胞的制备及体外定向分化为神经元的实验研究

目的制备再程序化脂肪源性干细胞以及探索诱导其定向分化为神经元的方法。方法体外培养脂肪来源干细胞(ADSCs),取纯化、鉴定过的第3代ADSCs接种于24孔板中并分A,B,C三组:A组为带有绿色荧光基因(GFP)的慢病毒载体介导Neurogenin2(Ngn2)基因转染的ADSCs,制备再程序化脂肪干细胞;B组为带有GFP的空载体病毒转染的ADSCs;C组为未进行慢病毒介导基因转染的ADSCs;转基因7d后加入含细胞生长因子诱导培养基诱导分化15d。光镜下观察各组细胞形态变化以及免疫荧光研究各组ADSCs诱导后定向分化为神经元的差异。结果与B组和C组相比,A组ADSCs转基因后再经诱导分化15d后绝大部分细胞类似神经元,胞体呈梭形或椭圆形,有两个或三个突起伸出,细胞表达神经丝蛋白NF、神经元特异性蛋白NeuN及神经元特异性烯醇化酯酶NSE比例大大提高。B组与C组的神经元分化效率,无显著差异,P>0.05。结论慢病毒介导Neurogenin2基因体外转染ADSCs可以制备出再程序化脂肪源性干细胞,诱导后具有更强的定向分化为神经元的能力。     

再程序化脂肪干细胞移植治疗大鼠脊髓损伤的机制

目的制备再程序化脂肪干细胞(ADSCs),并在体研究再程序化ADSCs移植入大鼠脊髓损伤模型后促进损伤脊髓神经功能恢复的作用和机制。方法体外培养、纯化和鉴定大鼠ADSCs,并利用慢病毒包装神经元生成素2(Ngn2)基因转染ADSCs制备再程序化干细胞。体内实验将48只雌性SD大鼠随机分成3组:SCI对照(A)组、单纯ADSCs移植(B)组和Ngn2-ADSCs移植(C)组。采用BBB评分评价大鼠运动功能,并通过HE染色、免疫组化和免疫荧光等方法检测脊髓组织学改变和相关蛋白的表达水平,进而观察实验动物脊髓功能恢复情况。结果 Ngn2-ADSCs移植组在运动功能评分、胶质瘢痕的形成、脊髓损伤后病理变化和分泌神经营养因子BDNF和VEGF蛋白含量明显优于其他组。结论 Ngn2-ADSCs移植后能有效地存活,并分化为神经细胞,抑制胶质瘢痕形成,减小脊髓损伤空洞,增加BDNF和VEGF表达,最终促进SCI大鼠的运动功能恢复,较单纯应用ADSCs能更好地促进SCI修复。     

人脐带间充质干细胞向神经细胞分化的研究

目的研究人脐带分离的间充质干细胞向神经细胞分化的可能性。方法将剔除动静脉的新鲜人脐带组织切成小块培养,得到贴壁细胞;经传代培养、细胞周期分析、流式细胞检测后,再以不同方案诱导向其神经细胞分化,并以免疫荧光和RT-PCR方法进行鉴定。结果培养5-7d后,有细胞从组织块中游出。细胞传代培养达23代后无明显的形态和增殖能力改变。细胞周期分析表明80%以上的细胞都处于G0~G1期。流式细胞检测表明这些细胞表达CD13、CD29、CD44、CD90、CD105和CD166等MSCs标志物。经神经分化诱导后,部分细胞呈现出与神经元或神经胶质细胞类似的形态;免疫荧光检测表明,第二神经分化诱导方案优于第一方案,其NSE和MBP阳性细胞分别达80.8%±3.9%、4.2%±1.3%,但未能见到GFAP阳性细胞。RT-PCR进一步证实了这些神经标志物的表达。结论人脐带间充质干细胞具有向神经细胞分化的潜能,可作为神经系统疾病细胞移植治疗的备选来源。     

Neural tissue transplants rescue axotomized rubrospinal cells from retrograde death

Rubrospinal tract cells undergo massive retrograde degeneration following spinal cord damage in newborn rats (Prendergast and Stelzner, J. Comp. Neurol. 166:163-172, '76b). In the current study, fetal spinal cord tissue (E12-14) was grafted into midthoracic spinal cord lesions in newborn rats (less than 72 hours old) in order to determine whether such transplants could modify the response of the immature host central nervous system (CNS) to axotomy. These transplants grew, differentiated, and formed extensive areas of apposition with the recipient spinal cords. Counts of red nucleus (RN) neurons indicated a significant loss of RN neurons in animals with lesion alone, but a rescuing of most of these cells if a transplant was placed into the lesion site. In fact, the number of neurons in animals with lesions and transplants was not significantly different from control animals. Horseradish peroxidase injected 10-15 mm caudal to the transplant (at 1-12 months post-transplantation) labeled neurons within the transplant and RN neurons contralateral to the spinal cord lesions and transplant. In animals with spinal cord lesion but no transplant, only the unaxotomized RN was labeled. Thus, spinal cord transplants prevented the massive retrograde cell death of immature axotomized rubrospinal neurons. Some of these rescued neurons projected to the host spinal cord caudal to the transplant.     

Neural precursor cells derived from human embryonic brain retain regional specificity

Recent studies have revealed that neural precursor cells can be expanded not only from the subventricular zone and hippocampus but also from other regions of the human embryonic brain. To determine the regional differences of these precursor cells, we divided the brain of a 9-week-old human embryo into four parts, i.e., telencephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon, and rhombencephalon. All cultures of the tissues yielded neurospheres, and these spheres gave rise to neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. An analysis of clonal populations revealed that these precursor cells were multipotent, and two region-specific differences in neural precursor cells were revealed: 1) The precursor cells from the rostral part of the brain tended to proliferate faster than those from the caudal part, and 2) the precursor cells from the diencephalon and mesencephalon gave rise to more tyrosine hydoxylase (TH)-positive neurons than those from the telencephalon and rhombencephalon. When 50-day-cultured spheres were caused to differentiate, the percentage of TH-positive cells per total cell population was 1.2% for diencephalic and mesencephalic precursors, whereas it was 0.4% for telencephalic and rhombencephalic ones. Furthermore, the TH-positive cells from diencephalic and mesencephalic precursors were large, multipolar, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-negative, which suggested that these cells were midbrain dopaminergic neurons. In contrast, TH-positive cells from telencephalic and rhombencephalic precursors were small, bipolar, and GABA-positive. These results suggest that human neural precursor cells might have the potential to differentiate into a variety of cells but retain regional specificity.     

Neural cells derived from adult bone marrow and umbilical cord blood

Under experimental conditions, tissue-specific stem cells have been shown to give rise to cell lineages not normally found in the organ or tissue of residence. Neural stem cells from fetal brain have been shown to give rise to blood cell lines and conversely, bone marrow stromal cells have been reported to generate skeletal and cardiac muscle, oval hepatocytes, as well as glia and neuron-like cells. This article reviews studies in which cells from postnatal bone marrow or umbilical cord blood were induced to proliferate and differentiate into glia and neurons, cellular lineages that are not their normal destiny. The review encompasses in vitro and in vivo studies with focus on experimental variables, such as the source and characterization of cells, cell-tracking methods, and markers of neural differentiation. The existence of stem/progenitor cells with previously unappreciated proliferation and differentiation potential in postnatal bone marrow and in umbilical cord blood opens up the possibility of using stem cells found in these tissues to treat degenerative, post-traumatic and hereditary diseases of the central nervous system.     

神经干细胞与脑胶质瘤干细胞☆

所有的肿瘤组织并不是由均一的肿瘤细胞所组成的,不同的细胞具有不同的增殖、浸润和转移能力,亦即肿瘤的异质性。其中存在少数担当着干细胞角色的肿瘤细胞,具有干细胞的基本特性,包括自我更新能力、无限的增殖能力和多向分化潜能,为肿瘤干细胞。神经干细胞具有很强的自我更新机制,获得较少突变即有可能恶性转化,而且干细胞存活时间较长,这意味着干细胞比成熟细胞发生细胞复制的错误几率更大,因外界环境的刺激而发生突变的机会更多,最终形成脑胶质瘤干细胞,同时调节神经干细胞增殖和自我更新的基因在脑胶质瘤的脑胶质瘤干细胞中也表达,这也是支持神经干细胞是脑胶质瘤干细胞来源的;也有推测认为它可能起源于已分化的细胞,由这些细胞突变发生去分化得来,并通过基因突变而获得了干细胞自我更新的特性,从而形成脑胶质瘤干细胞。通过探讨神经干细胞与脑胶质瘤干细胞,为脑胶质瘤的治疗提供依据。     

Label-free,live optical imaging of reprogrammed bipolar disorder patient-derived cells reveals a functional correlate of lithium responsiveness

Development of novel treatments and diagnostic tools for psychiatric illness has been hindered by the absence of cellular models of disease. With the advent of cellular reprogramming, it may be possible to recapitulate the disease biology of psychiatric disorders using patient skin cells transdifferentiated to neurons. However, efficiently identifying and characterizing relevant neuronal phenotypes in the absence of well-defined pathophysiology remains a challenge. In this study, we collected fibroblast samples from patients with bipolar 1 disorder, characterized by their lithium response (n=12), and healthy control subjects (n=6). We identified a cellular phenotype in reprogrammed neurons using a label-free imaging assay based on a nanostructured photonic crystal biosensor and found that an optical measure of cell adhesion was associated with clinical response to lithium treatment. This cellular phenotype may represent a useful biomarker to evaluate drug response and screen for novel therapeutics.     

大鼠中脑神经前体细胞的分离鉴定和培养

目的确认从E14.5SD大鼠中脑胚胎分离的细胞符合神经前体细胞特性,并在体外建立合适培养体系使神经前体细胞能够长期生长及传代。方法分离E14.5SD大鼠胚胎中脑腹侧组织细胞,在体外含有碱性纤维细胞生长因子(bFGF)的无血清培养液内种植并传代,行nestin免疫学检查,并在分化前后行神经元特异性烯醇化酶(NSE)和胶质原纤维酸性蛋白(GFAP)免疫学检查,同时做BrdU增殖实验。结果体外种植中脑神经细胞可以生长、分裂并长期传代,nestin染色及BrdU增殖实验为阳性,NSE和GFAP 在分化前阴性,而分化后为阳性。结论E14.5SD大鼠胚胎中脑分离的细胞符合神经前体细胞特性,并可在本实验所采用的培养液内长期生长、分裂和传代。     

Neural crest derived stem cells from dental pulp and tooth-associated stem cells for peripheral nerve regeneration

The peripheral nerve injuries, representing some of the most common types of traumatic lesions affecting the nervous system, are highly invalidating for the patients besides being a huge social burden. Although peripheral nervous system owns a higher regenerative capacity than does central nervous system, mostly depending on Schwann cells intervention in injury repair, several factors determine the extent of functional outcome after healing. Based on the injury type, different therapeutic approaches have been investigated so far. Nerve grafting and Schwann cell transplantation have represented the gold standard treatment for peripheral nerve injuries, however these approaches own limitations, such as scarce donor nerve availability and donor site morbidity. Cell based therapies might provide a suitable tool for peripheral nerve regeneration, in fact, the ability of different stem cell types to differentiate towards Schwann cells in combination with the use of different scaffolds have been widely investigated in animal models of peripheral nerve injuries in the last decade. Dental pulp is a promising cell source for regenerative medicine, because of the ease of isolation procedures, stem cell proliferation and multipotency abilities, which are due to the embryological origin from neural crest. In this article we review the literature concerning the application of tooth derived stem cell populations combined with different conduits to peripheral nerve injuries animal models, highlighting their regenerative contribution exerted through either glial differentiation and neuroprotective/neurotrophic effects on the host tissue.     

再程序化星形胶质细胞的制备及体外定向分化为神经元的研究

目的探讨再程序化星形胶质细胞制备并在体外诱导其分化为神经元。方法在体外培养大鼠脑皮质来源星形胶质细胞(astrocyte),随后将提纯、鉴定过的第三代星形胶质细胞接种于12孔培养皿中,并分为A、B、C 3组。其中A组为带有绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)的慢病毒载体介导neurogenin2(Ngn2)基因转染的星形胶质细胞,制备再程序化星形胶质细胞;B组为带有GFP基因的空载体病毒转染的星形胶质细胞;C组为未进行慢病毒介导基因转染的星形胶质细胞;转基因1周后加入含细胞生长因子诱导培养基诱导分化15 d,光镜下观察各组细胞形态变化以及定向神经元分化的差异。结果 A组星形胶质细胞转基因后再诱导15 d,很大部分细胞形态呈神经元样改变,胞体呈梭形或椭圆形,有多个突起伸出且突起较长,表达神经元核蛋白(Neu N)、神经丝蛋白(NF)及神经元特异性烯醇化酶(NSE)的比例大大提高,相比B组及C组,差异有统计学意义(均P0.05);而B组与C组神经元分化比例的差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。结论慢病毒介导Ngn2基因体外转染星形胶质细胞可制备出再程序化星形胶质细胞,诱导后具有更强的向神经元定向分化能力。     

Neural stem cells and Parkinson's disease

The discovery that embryonic stem cells, neural stem cells and potentially mesenchymal stem cells bear the potential to differentiate into neurons and glia in vitro and in vivo has opened a rapidly growing scientific field. Current research is very likely to impose a major impact on diagnosis and treatment of a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. One of the paramount immediate goals of stem cell research is to develop tissue sources for restorative treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease. We have been able to develop predopaminergic cells derived from human embryonic or fetal midbrain that have been amplified in vitro for more than 2 years. These cells will hopefully enable restorative treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease in the near future.     

Neural differentiation of embryonic stem cells induced by conditioned medium from neural stem cell

Embryonic stem cells can proliferate indefinitely and are capable of differentiating into derivatives of all three embryonic germ layers in vitro, including the neural lineage. The main objective of this study is to test the effects of neural stem cell conditioned medium on the neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells. When cultured in neural stem cell conditioned medium, mouse embryonic stem cells can form floating cell spheres composed of many nestin-positive cells. After trypsinization and growth on gelatin, these embryonic stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells can be expanded for more than 3 months without loss of neural progenitor characteristics. Both neuronal and glial cells can be readily generated from these cells under differentiation conditions. Thus, neural stem cell conditioned medium is a highly potent reagent for inducing the development of mouse embryonic stem cells into the neural lineage, especially neural progenitor cells.     

Neural cells from primary human striatal xenografts migrate extensively in the adult rat CNS

Primary neural cells do not appear to migrate significantly following transplantation into the adult rodent CNS, which is in contrast to expanded neural precursor cells where migration is well-documented. However, most transplant studies of primary neural tissue have been performed in an allograft situation in which it is difficult to identify graft-derived cells. We have, therefore, used a xenograft paradigm to investigate the potential for cells derived from grafts of primary human fetal striatal tissue (gestational age of 66-72 days) to migrate following intrastriatal transplantation in an athymic adult rat model of Huntington's disease. The use of an antibody specific to human nuclear antigen enabled clear identification of graft-derived cells within the host brain, and specific neural phenotypes were determined using human-specific tau for neurons, glial fibrillary acidic protein for mature astrocytes and Ki67 for proliferative cells. At 6 weeks, the graft mass was very dense with a high proliferative index, few cells had migrated away from the graft, and the cells that had differentiated both within and away from the graft were mainly neurons. In contrast, at 6 months, the graft core was dispersed significantly more and a large number of graft-derived cells had migrated throughout the brain as far rostral as the olfactory bulb and as caudal as the substantia nigra. Cells had differentiated into both neurons and astrocytes and the level of proliferation was significantly lower within the graft. These results demonstrate that primary neural xenografts contain proliferative cells that possess the ability to migrate and differentiate into both neurons and astrocytes, and suggest that these cells could contribute to normal graft function. This property may be a consequence of the xenograft situation and could potentially be exploited to provide the opportunity to target regions of distant pathology in neurodegenerative diseases using xenotransplantation of embryonic neural tissue.     

神经干细胞与运动性神经疾病

背景：神经干细胞以其所具有的多向分化潜能、自我更新、迁徙性、低免疫性等特点受到临床的广泛应用,但有关神经干细胞在运动医学领域用于防治运动性损伤等的研究成果不是很多。目的：旨在通过分析神经干细胞的生物学特性,探讨其在临床上的应用,为神经性疾病的预防和治疗提供理论依据。方法：应用计算机检索CNKI和PubMed数据库中1997-01/2010-10关于神经干细胞与运动性神经疾病的文章,在标题和摘要中以“神经干细胞,运动医学,失神经肌萎缩,周围神经损伤”或“Neural Stem Cell,Sports Medicine,Denervation Muscle Atrophy,Peripheral Nerve Injury”为检索词进行检索,选择文章内容与神经干细胞和运动性神经疾病相关,同一领域文献选择近期发表或发表在权威杂志上的文章,初检得到262篇文献,根据纳入标准选择31篇进行综述。结果与结论：神经干细胞以其多向分化潜能、自我维持和更新、低免疫原性、迁徙性和来源广泛等特点为其在治疗神经退行性病变、运动性骨骼肌失神经肌萎缩和促运动性周围神经损伤的再生等提供了较为广阔的应用前景,但由于基础性研究所限,对其作用机制、诱导分化、迁移等仍有待大量的实验研究予以证实。     

神经干细胞：概念、意义和展望

干细胞研究是目前生命科学研究领域中的热点之一，其中神经干细胞的研究与应用最为引人瞩目。     

Neural cells from dogfish embryos express the same subtype-specific antigens as mammalian neural cells in vivo and in vitro

Neural cells are classically identified in vivo and in vitro by a combination of morphological and immunocytochemical criteria. Here, we demonstrate that antibodies used to identify mammalian oligodendrocytes, neurons, and astrocytes recognize these cell types in the developing spiny dogfish central nervous system and in cultures prepared from this tissue. Oligodendrocyte-lineage-specific antibodies O1, O4, and R-mAb labeled cells in the 9 cm dogfish brain stem's medial longitudinal fascicle (MLF) and in areas lateral to it. Process-bearing cells, cultured from the dogfish brain stem, were also labeled with these antibodies. An anti-lamprey neurofilament antibody (LCM), which recognized 60 and 150 kDa proteins in dogfish brain stem homogenates, labeled axons and neurons in the brain stem and axons in the cerebellum of the dogfish embryo. It also labeled cell bodies and/or processes of some cultured cerebellar cells. An anti-bovine glial fibrillary acidic protein antibody, which recognized 42–44 kDa protein(s) in dogfish brain stem homogenates, labeled astrocyte-like processes in the brain stem and cerebellum of the dogfish embryo and numerous large and small flat cells in the cerebellar cultures. These results demonstrate that dogfish oligodendrocytes, neurons, and astrocytes express antigens that are conserved in mammalian neural cells. The ability to culture and identify neural cell types from cartilaginous fish sets the stage for studies to determine if proliferation, migration, and differentiation of these cell types are regulated in a similar fashion to mammalian cells. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Neural precursor cells inhibit multiple inflammatory signals

Intravenous neural precursor cell (NPCs) injection attenuates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by reducing autoreactive T cell encephalitogenicity in lymph nodes in vivo. Here we examined NPC-lymphocyte interactions in vitro. NPCs inhibited the induction of T cell activation marker IL-2-Receptor alpha, ICOS, PD-1 and CTLA-4 and inhibited T cell proliferation. NPCs inhibited T cell activation and proliferation in response to Concavalin-A and to anti-CD3/anti-CD28, which are T cell receptor (TCR)-mediated stimuli, but not in response to phorbol myristate acetate/ionomycin, a TCR-independent stimulus. The suppressive effect was not mediated via downregulation of CD3epsilon or induction of apoptosis. We next examined NPCs effects on inflammatory-cytokine signaling. NPCs impaired IL-2-mediated phosphorylation of JAK3 in lymphocytes, and inhibited IL-6 mediated proliferation of B9 murine hybridoma cells. In conclusion, NPCs ameliorate TCR-mediated T cell activation and inhibit inflammatory cytokines' signaling in immune cells. These findings may underlie the broad anti-inflammatory effects of NPCs in vivo.     

神经干细胞移植治疗缺氧缺血性脑损伤的实验研究

目的 研究神经干细胞移植治疗缺氧缺血性脑损伤的可行性。方法 取孕龄为12－16天的母鼠，从胎脑中分离神经细胞，进行培养、鉴定。用出生7天的SD大鼠的新生鼠制作缺氧缺血性脑损伤的动物模型，7天后接受神经干细胞移植（移植组，n＝16只），同时设置对照组，只注射磷酸缓冲液（对照组，n=8只），8－10周后，作Y迷宫实验检测大鼠的学习能力和记忆能力。取脑组织作免疫组织化学检查。结果 从大鼠胎脑中成功培养出神经干细胞，培养条件下呈悬浮状态生长，形成神经球，绝大多数的细胞表达神经干细胞的标志物神经巢蛋白（nestin）。接爱神经干细胞移植组大鼠的学习能力、记忆能力和对照组相比，有明显提高，差异具有显著性（P＜0.05）。接受神经干细胞移植大鼠组织中可见存活的移植细胞，并和宿主脑组织融合在一起。结论 在体外培养条件下，可从胎脑组织中培养出神经干细胞，移植到缺氧缺血性脑损伤大鼠脑内后，细胞与宿主的脑组织融合在一起，动物的学习、记忆能力有改善。移植神经干细胞是治疗缺氧缺知性脑损伤的有效方法之一。