Effect of Exposing Low-Frequency Electric Fields on the Proliferative Capacity and Morphological Features of Olfactory Ensheathing Cells in vitro

摘要

Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) transplanted into the damaged spinal cord may be considered as a valuable remedy explorations for spinal cord repair. The proliferation of transplanted olfactory ensheathing cells depends on various environmental factors and effective cues, which may include electrical fields (EFs). In this study, we investigated the proliferative capacity, morphologic alterations of olfactory ensheathing cells derived from neonate rat that occurd when exposed to two EFs of 20 Hz, 50 mV and 20 Hz, 100 mV for 6 h. For both EF treatments, the MTT results revealed that the cellular proliferation of exposed group during the last 6 h of the experiment was statistically higher than that of control group. Then, we investigated morphological structure changes in the cells stained by Coomassie brilliant blue. Compared with control group, most of cells were present at intensively proliferating appearance including the microfilaments were long and thick and the accumulated appearance of cells. It is conceivable that electrical fields as a new approach may promote the growth and proliferation of OECs and may be engineered to control the survival of transplanted OECs in injured spinal cord. Although our results have been suggesting that EFs may be non-chemical strategies for cell proliferation, the fundamental mechanisms remain to be elucidated.