Integration of grafted embryonic spinal cord motoneurons into the circuitry of the injured lumbar cord

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Integration of grafted embryonic spinal cord motoneurons into the circuitry of the injured lumbar cord Antal Nógrádi1*, Gábor Márton1 and Urszula Slawinska2 1 University of Szeged, Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Hungary 2 Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Department of Neurophysiology, Poland Previous studies have shown that embryonic motoneurons transplanted into the host spinal cord survive, extend their axons into a peripheral nerve conduit and reinnervate the denervated muscles. In this study we investigated whether grafted motoneurons that reinnervated hindlimb muscles via a reimplanted ventral root were able to establish appropriate connections with the neurons of the host spinal cord and thus to integrate into the circuitry of the host cord. The experiments were performed on adult Sprague-Dawley rats in which the L4 ventral root was avulsed from the spinal cord and gently reinserted dorsolaterally into the host cord. In addition to this procedure embryonic spinal cord tissue derived from GFP transgenic rats was grafted into the L4 segment close to the place of the reimplanted ventral root. In control animals only the L4 ventral root was avulsed and reimplanted. After 5-6 months survival the L4 spinal nerve was labelled with retrograde tracers, the position of retrogradely labelled cells was mapped, their origin identified and connections traced. Retrogradely labelled neurons of graft origin were typically located at the host-graft interface and many of them received numerous 5-HT innervation. Serotonergic inervation may have arised both from host and grafted neurons as several (4-5) 5-HT immunoreactive neurons were found in the L4 spinal segment, located both within the graft and in the host cord. Abundant reciprocal connections were found between host and grafted neurons after microiontophoretic injections of Phaseolus vulgaris applied into the graft or into the host tissue. Our results suggest that the grafted motoneurons, which were at a very early stage of development when transplanted into the adult spinal cord, were able to integrate into the host's circuitry and receive an innervation pattern similar to that of host motoneurons. Conference: IBRO International Workshop 2010, Pécs, Hungary, 21 Jan - 23 Jan, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Disorders of the nervous system Citation: Nógrádi A, Márton G and Slawinska U (2010). Integration of grafted embryonic spinal cord motoneurons into the circuitry of the injured lumbar cord. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: IBRO International Workshop 2010. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.10.00052 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 20 Apr 2010; Published Online: 20 Apr 2010. * Correspondence: Antal Nógrádi, University of Szeged, Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Szeged, Hungary, nogradi.antal@med.u-szeged.hu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Antal Nógrádi Gábor Márton Urszula Slawinska Google Antal Nógrádi Gábor Márton Urszula Slawinska Google Scholar Antal Nógrádi Gábor Márton Urszula Slawinska PubMed Antal Nógrádi Gábor Márton Urszula Slawinska Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.