Cell Transplantation as a Method to Investigate Spinal Cord Regeneration in Regenerative and Nonregenerative Xenopus Stages

Abstract

Mammals are not capable of regenerating their central nervous system (CNS); anamniotes, however, can regenerate in response to injury. The mechanisms that explain the different regenerative capabilities include: (i) extrinsic mechanisms that consider the cellular environment and extracellular matrix composition, (ii) intrinsic factors implicating the presence or absence of genetic programs that promote axon regeneration, and (iii) the presence or absence of neural stem and progenitors cells (NSPCs) that allow neurogenesis. Xenopus laevis is able to regenerate its CNS during larval stages (i.e., the regenerative stage [R-stage]). However, concomitant with metamorphosis this capacity decreases and is lost completely in juvenile froglets (i.e., nonregenerative stages [NR-stages]). The loss of the regenerative ability correlates with a reduction in the percentage of Sox2 + cells, which are putative NSPCs. This protocol shows the effect of transplantation of spinal cord cells from R-stage Xenopus larvae into NR-stage froglets. Using this procedure, it is possible to study axon regeneration and stem cell biology in vivo. MATERIALSIt is essential that you consult the appropriate Material Safety Data Sheets and your institution's Environmental Health and Safety Office for proper handling of equipment and hazardous materials used in this protocol. RECIPES: Please see the end of this protocol for recipes indicated by <R>. Additional recipes can be found online at http://cshprotocols.cshlp.org/site/recipes. ReagentsBovine serum albumin (BSA; 0.5 mg/mL in L-15 Medium) Ethyl 3-aminobenzoate methanesulfonate salt (0.02% [w/v] in 0.1× MBS [MS-222; Sigma-Aldrich A5040]) The solution can be stored for 1 mo at 4˚C. Fibrinogen (100 mg/mL in phosphate-buffered saline [PBS]; Sigma-Aldrich F6755) Final medium <R> L-15 Medium (Sigma-Aldrich L4386) 2 Correspondence: jlarrain@bio.puc.cl From the Xenopus collection, edited by Hazel L. Sive.

Application of stem cells and chitosan in the repair of spinal cord injury

“…Stem cell-based transplantation has gained growing attention with the prospect of becoming a potential strategy for the treatment of SCI in https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2019.07.005 Received 26 January 2019; Received in revised form 25 June 2019; Accepted 10 July 2019 the near future (Mendez-Olivos and Larrain, 2018;Levi et al, 2019). Actually, neural stem cells (NSCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were the most widely studied in the field of SCI repair, due to their neurogenic origin and readily available characteristics.…”