Ar. Harvey et al., THE MIGRATION AND INTERMIXING OF DONOR AND HOST GLIA ON NITROCELLULOSE POLYMERS IMPLANTED INTO CORTICAL LESION CAVITIES IN ADULT MICE AND RATS, International journal of developmental neuroscience, 11(5), 1993, pp. 569-581
The fate of neonatal glia (mostly glial fibrillary acidic protein-posi
tive astrocytes), cultured on nitrocellulose papers and implanted into
cortical lesion cavities. was examined in adult mice and rats. In mic
e, a Y-chromosome-specific probe and in situ hybridization techniques
were used to identify male cells. Male-female grafts allowed visualiza
tion of donor glia and their behaviour after transplantation; female-m
ale grafts allowed an analysis of how host cells responded to the pres
ence of the implants. There was substantial intermixing of cells, with
many donor glia migrating away from the implants and host cells migra
ting onto both sides of the nitrocellulose paper. In rats, donor glia
were labelled with fluorescein-conjugated latex microspheres prior to
transplantation on nitrocellulose polymers. The rat data were broadly
consistent with those obtained from the mouse; moreover, immunohistoch
emical studies in rats suggested that the majority of host cells migra
ting onto the previously cell-coated papers were astrocytes. In a numb
er of studies, glia-coated polymers have been used in an attempt to pr
omote the regrowth of axons across lesion sites in the brain and spina
l cord. The present work suggests that both transplanted and host glia
may influence the regenerative growth seen in such implants.