A STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF OLFACTORY ENSHEATHING CELLS ON THE PROLIFERATION OF NEURAL STEM CELLS

Objective To research the effects of olfactory ensheathing cells(OECs) on the proliferation of neural stem cells(NSCs).Methods OECs and NSCs were separated and cultured in vitro.The proliferation of NSCs was observed by means of co-culture and two-chamber shared medium culture with OECs.For investigating the mechanism of the proliferation of NSCs,the cytokines and their receptors of OECs were tested by immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR.Results After 4 days in co-culture and two-chamber shared medium culture,the population of NSCs were increased significantly(P0.05),and some of them were differentiated.The result of RT-PCR showed that OECs could express mRNA of β-NGF,BDNF,(NT-3,) PDGF-B, trkA and trkB,but not NT-4.Moreover,positive staining of NGF,BDNF and p75 was observed in the cytoplasm of OECs by immunocytochemistry.Conclusions OECs can express or secrete a large amount of cytokines,for example β-NGF,BDNF,(NT-3) and PDGF-B and promote the proliferation of NSCs by paracrine secretion and retrograde transport from target.