| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Perinatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI) remains a critical issue affecting 2-3 of 1000 live births in developed countries, with no effective treatments except brain hypothermia. This project is aimed to examine whether neural stem/progenitor cell (NSPC) transplantation therapy may have therapeutic effect for perinatal HI. We produced neonatal HI rats by exposure to hypoxia following ligation of the right common carotid artery, and injected NSPCs into the right ventricle 24 hours after hypoxia. There was no difference between vehicle-and NSPC-injected rats in the wet weight of the right cerebral hemisphere measured 7 days after injection. When the rats were treated with NSPC combined with chondroitinase, which digests glycosaminoglycans of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, cerebral damage was significantly reduced. There was no obvious effect in chondroitinase-treated rats without NSPCs. Although we need further investigation, there is a possibility that intracerebral injection of NSPCs with chondroitinase may become a useful therapy for neonatal HI. Next, to elucidate a candidate for preventing neuronal cell death, we cultured rat neocortical neurons and examined NMDA-induced excitatory neuronal cell death. Preadministration of a highly sulfated chondroitin sulfate (CS) preparation, CS-E, significantly reduced neuronal cell death induced by NMDA, but other CS preparations such as CS-A, CS-B, CS-C, and CS-D, did not. These results indicate that CS-E may be a good candidate for neural cell protection.
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