Abstract

We observed ultramicrostructure of the contact or the connection between neural stem cells (NSCs) and host cells following transplantation of NSCs to treat the spinal cord injury (SCI). NSCs were labeled with Feride prior to transplantation. pEGFP-C2-Trk was transfected to transplanted NSCs under liposome medication. The EGFP-TrkB fusion protein was located with the colloidal gold technique. The contact or connection between transplanted NSCs and host cells were observed through distinguishing the cell body and the process according to whether Feridex or Colloidal gold particles existed under the transmission electron microscope. Feridex could label the cell body instead of the cell process, while the colloidal gold technique to locate the EGFP-TrkB fusion protein could label both the cell body and the cell process. There was body-body and body-process contact between transplanted NSCs and host cells, but no typical synaptic structures were observed. The cell body and the cell process of transplanted NSCs can be located by the colloidal gold technique, though technical improvement is required. There are no synaptic structures despite contact or connection between transplanted NSCs and host cells.

Key words: Neural stem cells, spinal cord injury, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), colloidal gold, Feridex.