INTRACEREBRAL TRANSPLANTATION OF TESTIS-DERIVED SERTOLI CELLS PROMOTES FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY IN FEMALE RATS WITH 6-HYDROXYDOPAMINE-INDUCED HEMIPARKINSONISM

Recently, we demonstrated amelioration of behavioral deficits associat ed with 6-hydroxydopamine-induced hemiparkinsonism by transplanting ra t testis-derived Sertoli cells into adult male rat brains. In the pres ent study, we used adult female hemiparkinsonian rats to investigate w hether the beneficial effects of transplantation of Sertoli cells may be differentially affected by gender of the animal transplant recipien t. At 1 month posttransplantation, animals transplanted with Sertoli c ells showed functional recovery as revealed by significant reductions in apomorphine-induced rotational behavior and asymmetrical elevated b ody swing behavior. Control animals that received medium alone did not display any visible behavioral recovery. These results suggest that t ransplantation of Sertoli cells is not male hormone-dependent and furt her support the use of these cells as a graft source for Parkinson's d isease and other neurological disorders. (C) 1997 Academic Press.