1. Exposure to GDNF Enhances the Ability of Enteric Neural Progenitors to Generate an Enteric Nervous System.
- Author
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McKeown SJ, Mohsenipour M, Bergner AJ, Young HM, and Stamp LA
- Subjects
- Animals, Biomarkers, Cell Count, Cell Movement, Cell Proliferation, Cell Size drug effects, Cells, Cultured, Coculture Techniques, Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor pharmacology, Mice, Mice, Transgenic, Neural Stem Cells drug effects, Neurons cytology, Neurons metabolism, Phenotype, Stem Cell Transplantation, Cell Differentiation drug effects, Enteric Nervous System cytology, Enteric Nervous System embryology, Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor metabolism, Neural Stem Cells cytology, Neural Stem Cells metabolism, Neurogenesis drug effects
- Abstract
Cell therapy is a promising approach to generate an enteric nervous system (ENS) and treat enteric neuropathies. However, for translation to the clinic, it is highly likely that enteric neural progenitors will require manipulation prior to transplantation to enhance their ability to migrate and generate an ENS. In this study, we examine the effects of exposure to several factors on the ability of ENS progenitors, grown as enteric neurospheres, to migrate and generate an ENS. Exposure to glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) resulted in a 14-fold increase in neurosphere volume and a 12-fold increase in cell number. Following co-culture with embryonic gut or transplantation into the colon of postnatal mice in vivo, cells derived from GDNF-treated neurospheres showed a 2-fold increase in the distance migrated compared with controls. Our data show that the ability of enteric neurospheres to generate an ENS can be enhanced by exposure to appropriate factors., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2017
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