Survival and differentiation of transplanted neural stem cells in mice brain with MPTP-induced Parkinson disease

AIM: To determine survival and differentiation of cultured neural stem cells (NSCs) into viable and functional neurons upon transplantation into mice brain of MPTP-induced Parkinson disease (PD). METHODS: Mouse model of PD was established with two subcutaneous (sc) injections of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP, 40 mg/kg) twice, 16 h apart. NSCs isolated from rat embryo midbrain were cultured in clonal density. After labeled with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU), the NSCs were transplanted into the uni- or bi-lateral striatum of PD mouse. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunofluorescence was used to evaluate the toxicity of MPTP on the neural cells in the substantia nigra. Immunohistology and laser confocal microscope were used to detect the survival and differentiation of transplanted NSCs. RESULTS: The cultured NSCs generated neurospheres and differentiated into neuron and astrocyte. It indicated that the cultured NSCs were multipotent and self-renewal in vitro. TH-positive neural cells were significantly reduced in the substantia nigra. Immunohistology showed that the uni- or bi-lateral transplanted NSCs survived in the brain of PD model mouse. Laser confocal microscope indicated that some transplanted NSCs could properly differentiate into targeted TH-positive neural cells in vivo. CONCLUSION: The transplanted multipotent NSCs could survive and differentiate into functional dopamine neurons.