Cellular prostheses fabricated with motor neurons seeded in self-assembling peptide promotes partial functional recovery after spinal cord injury in rats

To evaluate effects of motor neurons prostheses (MN-prosthesis) fabricated with MNs differentiated from neural stem cells of fetal spinal cord seeded in self-assembling peptides (sapeptides) scaffolds on functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). Spinal cord hemisection was performed in adult rats. The MN-prosthesis was implanted into the lesion of injured spinal cord. TUNEL staining showed that the MN-prosthesis could decrease the number of apoptotic cells at 2, 4, and 7 days after transplantation. In the MN-prosthesis group, some cholinergic neurons survived within and around the implant, more neural fibers went through the implant from rostral side to caudal side. On day 84, Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) score, the peak latencies and amplitudes of N1 wave in both motor evoked potential (MEP) and cortical somatosensory evoked potential (CSEP) on the ipsilateral hind limb in the MN-prosthesis group were also significantly greater than those in the other groups (p<0.05). Thus, implantation of MN-prosthesis increases survival of the damaged cells, promotes formation of connection of neural fibers between the regenerative axons and the host tissue, and improves motor and electrophysiological functions. These findings demonstrate that MN-prosthesis serves as a potential tool for restoring neurologic function after SCI.