Co-transplantation of neural stem cell with endothelial cell for improving of the environment of the injured spinal cord

Abstract

The vessel disruption caused by physical impact of spinal cord injury leads to ischemic environment. This condition directly affects to reduce the survival rate of transplanted stem cells, consequentially decreasing the effectiveness of stem cell therapy. In this study, we investigated the affinity between angiogenesis and survival of transplanted neural stem cells in a spinal cord injury model. Hypoxia-specific luciferase-expressing neural stem cells (EpoSV-Luc NSC) were used as a detection system of hypoxic condition caused by spinal cord injury. In vitro, co-culture of endothelial cells (EC) improved the survival of neural stem cells and also decreased apoptosis caused by oxidative stress. In vivo angiogenesis by co-transplantation of endothelial cells quickly recovered ischemic environment caused by spinal cord injury. As a result, co-transplantation of endothelial cells improved the survival of neural stem cells transplanted into the injured spinal cord.