Multiple injections of human umbilical cord blood cells in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

• Grant number: 10/14923-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: September 20, 2010
• End date: September 19, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Maria Carolina de Oliveira Rodrigues
• Grantee: Maria Carolina de Oliveira Rodrigues
• Host Investigator: Svitlana Garbuzova-Davis
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of South Florida (USF), United States

Abstract

The present study will be conducted in the University of South Florida Department of Neurosurgery. This is an important center of research for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), under the leadership of Dr. Garbuzova-Davis. In this center are developed experimental studies with the ALS mouse transgenic model (G93A-SOD1 mutation), besides studies with human tissue from ALS patients. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of multiple intravenous injections of cord blood mononuclear cells on survival, neurologic behavior and motor neuron counts. The animal tissue will also be submitted to immunohistochemical detection of human cells in the mouse neural tissue. It is expected that the cells abrogate tissue inflammation, besides secreting neurotrophic factors, therefore promoting neural protection and a delay in disease onset and progression. Additionally, the migration of the cells to the inflammatory sites can be an evidence of possible repair, through cell differentiation or through paracrin pathways. The results will be important for future translational studies. (AU)