TITLE:
Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells promote sensory recovery in a spinal cord injury rat model
AUTHORS:
Sachiko Takikawa, Akihito Yamamoto, Kiyoshi Sakai, Ryutaro Shohara, Akira Iwase, Fumitaka Kikkawa, Minoru Ueda
KEYWORDS:
Human Umbilical Cord; Mesenchymal Stromal Cell; Mesenchymal Stem Cell; GABA
JOURNAL NAME:
Stem Cell Discovery,
Vol.3 No.3,
July
4,
2013
ABSTRACT: While
paralysis is widely appreciated to impact the quality-of-life after spinal cord injuries (SCIs), neuropathic chronic
pain may also occur in many cases. In this study, we investigated whether human
umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hUCMSCs) possess the therapeutic
potential to reduce neuropathic pain following SCI in rats. Spinal cord hemitransection,
which was used as a rat SCI pain model, induced tactile hypersensitivity in the
hind paw and hyperexcitability of wild dynamic range neurons in response to
natural cutaneous stimuli. Following hemitransection, we transplanted hUCMSCs
into the spinal cord. Attenuation of neuronal hyperexcitability was observed in
the hUCMSC-treated
group compared with that observed in the vehicle-treated group. Immunohistochemistry
showed that the transplanted hUCMSCs retained the expression of gammaamino butyric
acid (GABA). The results suggest that transplanted hUCMSCs ameliorate GABAergic
inhibition in the spinal cord. In summary, the production of GABA plays a
critical role in the plasticity of neuropathic pain after implantation of
hUCMSCs.