Local effects of dexamethasone on immune reaction in neural transplantation.

This study was performed to see whether local injection of dexamethasone may protect the neural grafts from immunological rejection and increase the successive rate of graft. Rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the mesostriatal dopamine pathway received fetal ventral mesencephalic (FVM) cells and dexamethasone in two regions of the striatum and showed significant (P<0.001) reduction in rotational asymmetry as compared to the non-immunosuppressed group. A significantly greater number of total TH-ir cells (P<0.001) and fewer number of total GFAP -ir cells (P<0.001) and inflammatory cells were observed in the striatum of animals in immunosuppressed group than those in non-immunosuppressed group. This results indicated that local injection of dexamethasone could not only reduce the immune rejection and increase the survival grafted cell but also avoid the side effects brought by long systemic administer of immunosuppressant.

The proliferation of human neural stem cells in vitro / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM and METHODS: To study the culture met ho d of human neural stem/progenitor cells, these cells derived from human fetal fo rebrains were maintained and expanded in serum-free defined medium containing ba sic fibroblast growth factors (bFGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF) and B27. Whe n they formed neurosphere, these three factors and supplemented FBS were removed to induce differentiation. Cell were cultured for 12-14 d, then fixed for immun ocytochemistry examination. RESULTS: This period of expansion resulted in a 107-fold incre ase in this heterogeneous population of cells. Upon differentiation, they form n eurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, the three main phenotypes in the CNS. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate the feasibility of long-t erm in vitro expansion of human neural progenitor cells. The advantages of s uch a population of neural precursors for allogeneic transplantation, including t he ability to provide an expandable, well-characterized, defined cell source, ca n form specific neuronal or glial subtypes.