Transplantation of Neonatal Dorsal Root Ganglion Precursor Cells Promotes Remyelination and Functional Neurological Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury

Objective: To investigate the proliferation and differentiation potential of precusor cells in dorsal root ganglia (DRG), precursor cells were transplanted into a spinal cord hemisection injury rat model to explore their role in repairing spinal cord injury. Methods: Precursor cells were obtained from neonatal rat DRG. The proliferation and differentiation ability of cells was detected by CCK- 8 kit and immunofluorescent staining. Precursor cells labeled with green fluorescent protein were injected into injured spinal cords; the control group received equivalent saline injection. The migration and differentiation of precursor cells in vivo were studied by immunofluorescence and the neurological function recovery of injured rats evaluated by Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) score at 1, 4, 6 weeks after cell transplantation. Results: The proliferation ability of precursor cells was confirmed. Most precursor cells differentiated into glial cells on induction; only a few precursor cells differentiated into neurons. In vivo, the established association between precursor cells and host cells was confirmed by immunofluorescence assay; the BBB score was higher in the experimental than control group at 1, 4, and 6 weeks after cell transplantation (p < 0.05). Conclusions: DRG neural precursor cells can proliferate continuously and mostly differentiate into glial cells. Precursor-cell transplantation can promote nerve functional recovery in rats with spinal-cord injury.