Self-assembled peptide nanofiber scaffold can regulate the differentiation of neural stem cells trans-planted in the rats' injured spinal cord in the acute phase

Abstract

Objective To study the influence of self-assembled peptide nanofiber scaffold on the proliferation of the neural stem cells (NSCs) transplanted in rats' injured spinal cord in the acute phase. Methods NSCs in rats were isolated,cultured and identified,and co-cultured with self-assembled peptide nanofiber scaffold. Twenty-five SD rats were hit with NYU-Ⅱ strike machine at T10 to establish rats' spinal-cord injury model. Transplant cells and peptide with injection in acute phase of injured spinal cords,in which the united cell transplantation group (n = 10) ,a simple cell transplantation group (n = 10) and the control group (n =5).2,4,8 weeks after the transplantation,immunohistechemistry was made to test the cells' divi-sion. Results The rats' NSCs culture system was successfully established in vitro. NSCs transplanted in the injured spinal cords could live more than 8 weeks. In simply transplantation group,NSCs had a lower propor-tion of cell differentiation,and no microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) marked cells differentiation hap-pened ,and a little glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) marked cells differentiation. In united transplantation group, NSCs had a higher proportion of cells differentiation, and could differentiate into MAP2/Oligo/GFAP marked cells. Conclusion Self-assembled peptide nanofiber scaffold could improve the neural stem cells' differentiation proportion in the acute phase of rats' injured spinal cord,and some of the cells could differenti-ate into neuron-specific antigen cells. Key words: Spinal cord injury; Neural stem cells; Tissue engineering; Differentiation