%0 Journal Article
%T Evaluation of ES-derived neural progenitors as a potential source for cell replacement therapy in the gut
%A Valentina Sasselli
%A Maria-Adelaide Micci
%A Kristen M Kahrig
%A Pankaj Jay Pasricha
%J BMC Gastroenterology
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-230x-12-81
%X Neurospheres were generated from mouse ES cells (ES-NS) and co-cultured with organotypic preparations of gut tissue consisting of the longitudinal muscle layers with the adherent myenteric plexus (LM-MP).LM-MP co-culture led to a significant increase in the expression of pan-neuronal markers (¦ÂIII-tubulin, PGP 9.5) as well as more specialized markers (peripherin, nNOS) in ES-NS, both at the transcriptional and protein level. The increased expression was not associated with increased proliferation, thus confirming a true neurogenic effect. LM-MP preparations exerted also a myogenic effect on ES-NS, although to a lesser extent. After transplantation in vivo into the mouse pylorus, grafted ES-NS failed to acquire a distinct phenotype al least 1£¿week following transplantation.This is the first study reporting that the gut explants can induce neuronal differentiation of ES cells in vitro and induce the expression of nNOS, a key molecule in gastrointestinal motility regulation. The inability of ES-NS to adopt a neuronal phenotype after transplantation in the gastrointestinal tract is suggestive of the presence of local inhibitory influences that prevent ES-NS differentiation in vivo.
%K Embryonic stem cells
%K Enteric nervous system
%K Gastrointestinal motility
%K Stem cell transplantation
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-230X/12/81/abstract