The effect of Matrigel as scaffold material for neural stem cell transplantation for treating spinal cord injury

• Published in: Scientific reports 2020-02, Vol.10 (1), p.2576, Article 2576
• Main Authors: Wang, Jiuling, Chu, Ruiliang, Ni, Na, Nan, Guoxin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 13/100; 13/51; 14/105; 14/63; 59; 631/532/2182; 692/308/1426; 82; 82/1; Animal models; Animals; Cell culture; Cell differentiation; Cell Differentiation - drug effects; Cell Line; Cell survival; Cell Survival - drug effects; Collagen - pharmacology; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Combinations; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Laminin - pharmacology; multidisciplinary; Neural stem cells; Neural Stem Cells - drug effects; Neural Stem Cells - transplantation; Neurogenesis - drug effects; Neurons - drug effects; Neurons - metabolism; Neurons - pathology; Proteoglycans - pharmacology; Rats; Recovery of Function; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Spinal cord injuries; Spinal Cord Injuries - physiopathology; Spinal Cord Injuries - therapy; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells; Survival; Tissue Scaffolds
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59148-3

Traumatic injury to the spinal cord causes permanent loss of function and major personal, social, and economic problems. Cell-based delivery strategies is a promising approach for treating spinal cord injury (SCI). However, the inhospitable microenvironment in the injured spinal cord results in poor cell survival and uncontrolled differentiation of the transplanted stem cells. The combination of a scaffold with cells has been developed with a tendency for achieving greater survival and integration with the host tissue. We investigated the effect of Matrigel combined with neural stem cells (NSCs) in vitro and in vivo . We compared the effect of different types of scaffold on the survival and differentiation of brain-derived NSCs in an in vitro culture. Subsequently, NSCs were transplanted subcutaneously into nude mice to detect graft survival and differentiation in vivo . Finally, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), Matrigel alone, or Matrigel seeded with NSCs was injected into 48 subacute, clinically relevant rat models of SCI (16 rats per group). Matrigel supported cell survival and differentiation efficiently in vitro and in vivo . SCI rats transplanted with NSCs in Matrigel showed improved behavioral recovery and neuronal and reactive astrocyte marker expression levels compared to PBS- or Matrigel-transplanted rats. Functional repair and neuronal and reactive astrocyte marker expression was slightly improved in the Matrigel-alone group relative to the PBS group, but not statistically significantly. These data suggest that Matrigel is a promising scaffold material for cell transplantation to the injured spinal cord.