ERK1/2 pathway-mediated differentiation of IGF-1-transfected spinal cord-derived neural stem cells into oligodendrocytes

Bo Shi; Jianxun Ding; Yi Liu; Xinming Zhuang; Xiuli Zhuang; Xuesi Chen; Changfeng Fu

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0106038

ERK1/2 pathway-mediated differentiation of IGF-1-transfected spinal cord-derived neural stem cells into oligodendrocytes

PLoS One. 2014 Aug 27;9(8):e106038. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0106038. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Bo Shi¹, Jianxun Ding², Yi Liu¹, Xinming Zhuang¹, Xiuli Zhuang², Xuesi Chen², Changfeng Fu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Spine Surgery, First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, P. R. China.
² Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, P. R. China.

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating event that causes substantial morbidity and mortality, for which no fully restorative treatments are available. Stem cells transplantation offers some promise in the restoration of neurological function but with limitations. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is a well-appreciated neuroprotective factor that is involved with various aspects of neural cells. Herein, the IGF-1 gene was introduced into spinal cord-derived neural stem cells (NSCs) and expressed steadily. The IGF-1-transfected NSCs exhibited higher viability and were promoted to differentiate into oligodendrocytes. Moreover, the most possible underlying mechanism, through which IGF-1 exerted its neuroprotective effects, was investigated. The result revealed that the differentiation was mediated by the IGF-1 activated extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) and its downstream pathway. These findings provide the evidence for revealing the therapeutic merits of IGF-1-modified NSCs for SCI.

MeSH terms

Animals
Animals, Newborn
Cell Differentiation
Female
Gene Expression Regulation
Genes, Reporter
Green Fluorescent Proteins / genetics
Green Fluorescent Proteins / metabolism
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / genetics
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / metabolism*
Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / genetics
Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / metabolism*
Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 / genetics
Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 / metabolism*
Neural Stem Cells / cytology
Neural Stem Cells / metabolism*
Oligodendroglia / cytology
Oligodendroglia / metabolism*
Plasmids / chemistry
Plasmids / metabolism
Pregnancy
Primary Cell Culture
Rats
Rats, Wistar
Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
Signal Transduction
Spinal Cord / cytology
Spinal Cord / metabolism
Transfection

Substances

Recombinant Fusion Proteins
Green Fluorescent Proteins
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1
Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3

Grants and funding

The authors have no support or funding to report.