MAP2 EXPRESSION IN THE DEVELOPING HUMAN FETAL SPINAL-CORD AND FOLLOWING XENOTRANSPLANTATION

Human fetal spinal cord (FSC) tissue was obtained from elective aborti ons at 6-14 wk gestational age (GA), The specimens were then either im mediately processed for immunohistochemical analysis or xenotransplant ation, In the latter case, donor tissue was prepared as a dissociated cell suspension and then introduced either subpially or intraspinally into contusion lesions of the adult rat midthoracic spinal cord, The x enografts were subsequently examined by conventional histological and immunohistochemical methods at 2-3 mo postgrafting. Immunostaining sho wed that MAP2 was expressed heavily in cells residing in the mantle la yer of the human fetal spinal cord in situ as early as 6 wk GA, Subpia l and intraparenchymal xenografts also were intensely immunoreactive f or MAP2, but no staining of surrounding host neural tissue was detecte d, We conclude that the differential expression of MAP2 can be used to distinguish human graft tissue from the surrounding rat spinal cord i n this xenograft paradigm, Under appropriate staining conditions, MAP2 can thus serve to facilitate analyses of host-graft integration, dono r cell migration, and neuritic outgrowth. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science In c.