| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,810,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,110,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an adult-onset neurodegenerative disease characterized by systemic loss of motor neurons. In adult brain and spinal cord, endogenous regenerative responses cannot lead to sufficient tissue repair, although neural stem/progenitor cells reside along the central neuraxis. However, non-neuronal cells such as glial cells and microvascular components are activated and proliferate by various insults including neurodegeneration.
In the present study, we examined a possible regenerative response in an ALS rat model. In contrast to controls, multiple immunohistochemistry revealed a significant increase of newborn microvascular pericytes in the ALS rat spinal cord. As compared with vehicle-treated group, intrathecal infusion of a maintaining factor for pericytes significantly augment the newborn pericytes and attenuated the loss of ventral horn neurons in the ALS rats. The pericytes may, therefore, be a novel therapeutic target in ALS.
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