In vivo effect of a single dose of mesenchymal stem cells exogenously expressing IGF-I in a spinal cord compression model

BERTOSSI R; AQUINO JB; COCKEY S; MAZZOLINI GD; MAZZONE GL; SIERRA R

Villa Carlos Paz, Cordoba

Congreso; XXXIV Reunión Anual SAN; 2019

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

An important aim in nervous system repair is to develop strategies that avoid main consequences of spinal cord injury by restricting tissue damage, neural death and locomotor function loss. In this regard, application of mesenchymal stem cells as vehicles of gene therapy could be a useful approach. In this study, a compression injury model was developed by applying an aneurysm clip to the spinal cord of BALB/c mice at the thoraco-lumbar level for 1 min. Mesenchymal stem cells, transduced with an adenovirus containing rat IGF-I (AdIGF-I-MSCs) or GFP (AdGFP-MSCs) gene sequences, were injected at the core of the affected zone 7 days post-injury. Locomotor behavioural and histological studies were performed. Locomotion was evaluated in an open field by applying the Basso Mouse locomotor scale rating and foot printing analysis. No apparent changes among experimental conditions were observed with regards glia cells in broad areas within the injury zone. Our preliminary data suggest an improvement in locomotion task and coordination walking pattern after AdIGF-I-MSCs application. This outcome might involve a modulation and/or plasticity of spinal circuits and locomotor neuronal networks. Supported by Austral University and CONICET.