Generation of functional neural artificial tissue from human umbilical cord blood stem cells

Tissue Eng Part C Methods. 2009 Sep;15(3):365-72. doi: 10.1089/ten.tec.2008.0485.

Abstract

Stem cell-based regenerative neurology is an emerging concept for treatment of diseases of central nervous system. Among variety of proposed procedures, one of the most promising is refilling of cystic cavities of injured brain parenchyma with artificial neural tissue. Recent studies revealed that after allogenic transplantation in rodents these tissue-engineered entities were shown efficient in repair of hypoxic/ischemic brain injury. Human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) was recognized to be an efficient and noncontroversial source of neural stem cells (NSC). The main purpose of this study was to generate HUCB-derived neural artificial tissue and investigate their functional properties. Neural organoids formed on human-originated biodegradable scaffolds within 3 weeks and resembled niche structure where immature stem cells (Oct4+ and Sox2+) and proliferating neuroblasts (Nestin+, GFAP+, and Ki67+) were present. Such aggregates were placed on multi-electrode chips and differentiated toward mature neurons (TUJ1+ and MAP2+). These three-dimensional aggregates in contrast to two-dimensional cultures formed functional circuits and generated spontaneous field/action potentials. Our results indicate that three-dimensional environment facilitates maturation of HUCB-derived NSC what should be considered regarding regenerative medicine application.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cell Survival
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Fetal Blood / cytology*
  • Humans
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / physiology*
  • Nerve Tissue / cytology*
  • Nerve Tissue / growth & development*
  • Neurons / cytology*
  • Neurons / physiology*
  • Organ Culture Techniques / methods
  • Tissue Engineering / methods