Collagen Nanofibers Facilitated Presynaptic Maturation in Differentiated Neurons from Spinal-Cord-Derived Neural Stem Cells through MAPK/ERK1/2-Synapsin I Signaling Pathway

• Published in: Biomacromolecules 2014-07, Vol.15 (7), p.2449-2460
• Main Authors: Yin, Yanling, Huang, Peng, Han, Zhu, Wei, Guojun, Zhou, Changwei, Wen, Jian, Su, Bo, Wang, Xiaoqin, Wang, Yansong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Differentiation - drug effects; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cells, Cultured; Collagen - chemistry; Exact sciences and technology; Fibers and threads; Flavonoids - pharmacology; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Medical sciences; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 - metabolism; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 - metabolism; Nanofibers - chemistry; Nerve Regeneration - drug effects; Nerve Regeneration - physiology; Neural Stem Cells - drug effects; Neural Stem Cells - metabolism; Neurons - cytology; Neurons - metabolism; Neurosurgical Procedures; Phosphorylation; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Signal Transduction; Spinal Cord - cytology; Spinal Cord - drug effects; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Synapsins - metabolism; Technology of polymers; Technology. Biomaterials. Equipments; Tissue Scaffolds - chemistry
• ISSN: 1525-7797; 1526-4602
• DOI: 10.1021/bm500321h

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are deemed to be a potential cell therapy for brain and spinal cord reconstruction and regeneration following injury. In this study, we investigated the role of nanofibrous scaffolds on NSCs-derived neurons in the formation of neural networks. Miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) were recorded using the whole-cell patch clamp recording method after the spinal cord-derived NSCs were differentiated into neurons and cultured in vitro for 10–14 days. It was observed that the frequency of mEPSCs in the differentiated neurons cultured on both randomly oriented and aligned collagen nanofibrous scaffolds was higher than that on the collagen-coated control and can be inhibited by an ERK inhibitor (PD98059), indicating that the collagen nanofibers affected the maturation of the synapses from presynaptic sites via the MAPK/ERK1/2 pathway. In addition, both of the collagen nanofibers increased the phosphorylation of Synapsin I and facilitated the interaction of p-ERK1/2 and p-Synapsin I. All these results suggested that the collagen nanofibrous scaffolds contributed to the presynaptic maturation via the ERK1/2-Synapsin I signaling pathway.