Adult rat myelin enhances axonal outgrowth from neural stem cells

Gunnar H.D. Poplawski, Richard Lie, Matt Hunt, Hiromi Kumamaru, Riki Kawaguchi, Paul Lu, Michael K.E. Schäfer, Grace Woodruff, Jacob Robinson, Philip Canete, Jennifer N. Dulin, Cedric G. Geoffroy, Lutz Menzel, Binhai Zheng, Giovanni Coppola, Mark H. Tuszynski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Axon regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI) is attenuated by growth inhibitory molecules associated with myelin. We report that rat myelin stimulated the growth of axons emerging from rat neural progenitor cells (NPCs) transplanted into sites of SCI in adult rat recipients. When plated on a myelin substrate, neurite outgrowth from rat NPCs and from human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)–derived neural stem cells (NSCs) was enhanced threefold. In vivo, rat NPCs and human iPSC–derived NSCs extended greater numbers of axons through adult central nervous system white matter than through gray matter and preferentially associated with rat host myelin. Mechanistic investigations excluded Nogo receptor signaling as a mediator of stem cell–derived axon growth in response to myelin. Transcriptomic screens of rodent NPCs identified the cell adhesion molecule neuronal growth regulator 1 (Negr1) as one mediator of permissive axon-myelin interactions. The stimulatory effect of myelin-associated proteins on rodent NPCs was developmentally regulated and involved direct activation of the extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK). The stimulatory effects of myelin on NPC/NSC axon outgrowth should be investigated further and could potentially be exploited for neural repair after SCI.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbereaal2563
JournalScience Translational Medicine
Volume10
Issue number442
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 23 2018
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Medicine(all)

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