TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hetz, Susan
A1  - Acikgoez, Ali
A1  - Voss, Ulrike
A1  - Nieber, Karen
A1  - Holland, Heidrun
A1  - Hegewald, Cindy
A1  - Till, Holger
A1  - Metzger, Roman
A1  - Metzger, Marco
T1  - In Vivo Transplantation of Neurosphere-Like Bodies Derived from the Human Postnatal and Adult Enteric Nervous System: A Pilot Study
JF  - PLOS ONE
N2  - Recent advances in the in vitro characterization of human adult enteric neural progenitor cells have opened new possibilities for cell-based therapies in gastrointestinal motility disorders. However, whether these cells are able to integrate within an in vivo gut environment is still unclear. In this study, we transplanted neural progenitor-containing neurosphere-like bodies (NLBs) in a mouse model of hypoganglionosis and analyzed cellular integration of NLB-derived cell types and functional improvement. NLBs were propagated from postnatal and adult human gut tissues. Cells were characterized by immunohistochemistry, quantitative PCR and subtelomere fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). For in vivo evaluation, the plexus of murine colon was damaged by the application of cationic surfactant benzalkonium chloride which was followed by the transplantation of NLBs in a fibrin matrix. After 4 weeks, grafted human cells were visualized by combined in situ hybridization (Alu) and immunohistochemistry (PGP9.5, GFAP, SMA). In addition, we determined nitric oxide synthase (NOS)-positive neurons and measured hypertrophic effects in the ENS and musculature. Contractility of treated guts was assessed in organ bath after electrical field stimulation. NLBs could be reproducibly generated without any signs of chromosomal alterations using subtelomere FISH. NLB-derived cells integrated within the host tissue and showed expected differentiated phenotypes i.e. enteric neurons, glia and smooth muscle-like cells following in vivo transplantation. Our data suggest biological effects of the transplanted NLB cells on tissue contractility, although robust statistical results could not be obtained due to the small sample size. Further, it is unclear, which of the NLB cell types including neural progenitors have direct restoring effects or, alternatively may act via 'bystander' mechanisms in vivo. Our findings provide further evidence that NLB transplantation can be considered as feasible tool to improve ENS function in a variety of gastrointestinal disorders.
KW  - Hirschsprung disease
KW  - benzalkonium chloride
KW  - progenitors
KW  - GUT
KW  - rat
KW  - colon
KW  - biology
KW  - therapy
KW  - neural stem-cell
KW  - motility disorders
Y1  - 2014
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-116793
VL  - 9
IS  - 4
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hassouna, I.
A1  - Ott, C.
A1  - Wüstefeld, L.
A1  - Offen, N.
A1  - Neher, R. A.
A1  - Mitkovski, M.
A1  - Winkler, D.
A1  - Sperling, S.
A1  - Fries, L.
A1  - Goebbels, S.
A1  - Vreja, I. C.
A1  - Hagemeyer, N.
A1  - Dittrich, M.
A1  - Rossetti, M. F.
A1  - Kröhnert, K.
A1  - Hannke, K.
A1  - Boretius, S.
A1  - Zeug, A.
A1  - Höschen, C.
A1  - Dandekar, T.
A1  - Dere, E.
A1  - Neher, E.
A1  - Rizzoli, S. O.
A1  - Nave, K.-A.
A1  - Sirén, A.-L.
A1  - Ehrenreich, H.
T1  - Revisiting adult neurogenesis and the role of erythropoietin for neuronal and oligodendroglial differentiation in the hippocampus
JF  - Molecular Psychiatry
N2  - Recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) improves cognitive performance in neuropsychiatric diseases ranging from schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis to major depression and bipolar disease. This consistent EPO effect on cognition is independent of its role in hematopoiesis. The cellular mechanisms of action in brain, however, have remained unclear. Here we studied healthy young mice and observed that 3-week EPO administration was associated with an increased number of pyramidal neurons and oligodendrocytes in the hippocampus of similar to 20%. Under constant cognitive challenge, neuron numbers remained elevated until >6 months of age. Surprisingly, this increase occurred in absence of altered cell proliferation or apoptosis. After feeding a \(^{15}\)N-leucine diet, we used nanoscopic secondary ion mass spectrometry, and found that in EPO-treated mice, an equivalent number of neurons was defined by elevated \(^{15}\)N-leucine incorporation. In EPO-treated NG2-Cre-ERT2 mice, we confirmed enhanced differentiation of preexisting oligodendrocyte precursors in the absence of elevated DNA synthesis. A corresponding analysis of the neuronal lineage awaits the identification of suitable neuronal markers. In cultured neurospheres, EPO reduced Sox9 and stimulated miR124, associated with advanced neuronal differentiation. We are discussing a resulting working model in which EPO drives the differentiation of non-dividing precursors in both (NG2+) oligodendroglial and neuronal lineages. As endogenous EPO expression is induced by brain injury, such a mechanism of adult neurogenesis may be relevant for central nervous system regeneration.
KW  - neural stem-cells
KW  - recombinat-human-erythropoietin
KW  - cognitive functions
KW  - pyramidal neurons
KW  - nervous-sytem
KW  - brain-injury
KW  - mouse-brain
KW  - progenitors
KW  - mice
KW  - memory
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-186669
VL  - 21
IS  - 12
ER  -