Hyaluronic Acid/Polylysine Hydrogel as a Transfer System for Transplantation of Neural Stem Cells

Abstract

Graft integration and survival are major factors that limit cell therapy for diseases and injury in the central nervous system. Efforts to improve graft survival and integration have focused on the development of biocompatible scaffolds to support neural cells. In this study, rat neural stem cells (NSC), including neurospheres and single cells, were seeded into hyaluronic acid/polylysine hydrogels. Confocal microscopy was used to noninvasively investigate the key cell phonotypes. After culture for 5 days, single NSC had survived and differentiated into neurons and astrocytes, while neurosphereforming cells had migrated from their original aggregate and maintained the NSC phonotype. These studies, carried out in the absence of serum, identified HA/polylysine hydrogels as potential synthetic cell carriers for transplantation of NSC.

Keywords

neural stem cell tissue engineering tissue scaffolds stem cell transplantation hydrogels hyaluronic acid hydrogels polylysine hydrogels hyaluronic acid/polylysine hydrogels.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Geller, H.M. and Fawcett, J.W. (2002). Building a Bridge: Engineering Spinal Cord Repair, Experimental Neurology , 174(2): 125-136.

Schmidt, C.E. and Leach, J.B. (2003). Neural Tissue Engineering: Strategies for Repair and Regeneration, Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, 5: 293-347.

Cui, F.Z. , Tian, W.M. , Fan , Y.W. , Hou , S.P. , Xu , Q.Y. and Lee , I.S. (2003). Cerebrum Repair with PHPMA Hydrogel Immobilized with Neuritepromoting Peptides in Traumatic Brain Injury of Adult Rat Model, Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers, 18(6): 413-432.

Zhang, T. , Yan, Y. , Wang, X.H. , Xiong, Z. , Lin, F. , Wu, R. , et al. (2007). Three-dimensional Gelatin and Gelatin/Hyaluronan Hydrogel Structures for Traumatic Brain Injury, Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers, 22: 19-29.

Yin, D. , Wang, X.H. , Yan, Y. and Zhang, R. (2007). Preliminary Studies on Peripheral Nerve Regeneration using a New Polyurethane Conduit, Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers, 22: 143-159.

Hung, C.H. and Young, T.H. (2006). Differences in the Effect on Neural Stem Cells of Fetal Bovine Serum in Substrate-coated and Soluble Form, Biomaterials, 27(35): 5901-5908.

Cattaneo, E. and McKay, R. (1990). Proliferation and Differentiation of Neuronal Stem Cells Regulated by Nerve Growth Factor, Nature, 347: 762-765.

Tatard, V.M. , Venier-Julienne, M.C. , Saulnier, P. , Prechter, E. , Benoit, J.P. , Menei, P. , et al. (2005). Pharmacologically Active Microcarriers: A Tool for Cell Therapy, Biomaterials , 26(17): 3727-3737.

Park, K.I. , Teng, Y.D. and Snyder, E.Y. (2002). The Injured Brain Interacts Reciprocally with Neural Stem Cells Supported by Scaffolds to Reconstitute Lost Tissue, Nature Biotechnology, 20(11): 1111-1117.

10.

Tsai, R.Y.L. and McKay, R.D.G. (2000). Cell Contact Regulates Fate Choice by Cortical Stem Cells, Journal of Neuroscience , 20(10): 3725-3735.