Stromal derived factor-1 in hippocampus radial glial cells in vitro regulates the migration of neural progenitor cells

Stromal derived factor-1 (SDF-1), a critical chemokine that promotes cell homing to target tissues, was presumed to be involved in the traumatic brain injury cortex. In this study, we determined the expression of SDF-1 in the hippocampus after transection of the fimbria fornix (FF). Realtime PCR and ELISA showed that mRNA transcription and SDF-1 proteins increased significantly after FF transection. In vitro, the expression of SDF-1 in radial glial cells (RGCs) incubated with deafferented hippocampus extracts was observed to be greater than in those incubated with normal hippocampus extracts. The co-culture of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and RGCs indicated that the extracts of deafferented hippocampus induced more NPCs migrating toward RGCs than the normal extracts. Suppression or overexpression of SDF-1 in RGCs markedly either decreased or increased, respectively, the migration of NPCs. These results suggest that after FF transection, SDF-1 in the deafferented hippocampus was upregulated and might play an important role in RGC induction of NPC migration; therefore, SDF-1 is a target for additional research for determining new therapy for brain injuries.