Abstract
We have reported that pleiotrophin (PTN) expression is enhanced in the dopamine (DA)-depleted striatum, and PTN specifically promoted survival of DAergic neurons in vitro. We investigated whether PTN treatment to donor cells during cell preparation in neural transplantation promoted the survival of grafted DAergic neurons. Donor cells were obtained from E15 ventral mesencephalon, suspended to single cells with 0.25% trypsin in PBS (20 min, 37°C) and kept in DMEM on ice. PTN (100 ng/ml) was treated during all procedure in cell preparation. Cells were grafted into the striatum of Parkinson model rats that were received 6-hydroxydopamine into the left substantia nigra 2-3 weeks before transplantation. To test the optimal number of donor cells for our purpose at first, we transplanted cells (1.0-7.5x104 per animal) with no PTN treatment (control) followed by methamphetamine-induced rotational test. Cells of 3.0 x 104 were optimal number of grafted cells for our purpose: some animals showed functional recovery 5 weeks after transplantation, however most animals did not. In PTN-treated group, recovery of motor function was obtained earlier, and the improvement was significantly greater in PTN-treated group. There were more DAergic cells in the striatum in PTN-treated group (192.2 ± 24.3, n=6) compared to that in control (137.8 ± 22.6, n=5). Data suggest that PTN treatment during cell preparation in neural transplantation promoted survival of grafted DAergic neurons. [Jpn J Physiol 54 Suppl:S211 (2004)]
