We investigated the mitogenic effect of continuous intrathecal infusion of epidermal growth factor (EGF) or fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) on ependymal precursor cells of the adult rat spinal cord in vivo. Either EGF, FGF2, EGF plus FGF2, or artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) was infused at a flow rate of 0.5 μl/h (15 ng/h of EGF or FGF2) for 3 or 14 days into the intrathecal space at T1 through a catheter attached to an osmotic minipump. To assess proliferation, the bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling index (LI) in the ependyma at T1 was calculated at 3 or 14 days. At 3 days there was no statistical difference in LI between these groups, but at 14 days the LI was significantly higher in the EGF plus FGF2 group (27.2% ± 16.0%) than in the aCSF group (5.4% ± 4.7%; p < 0.05). With EGF alone or FGF2 alone, the LI increases were not significantly different from the aCSF group. With EGF plus FGF2 for 14 days, some BrdU-positive cells in the ependyma also expressed nestin. These results suggest that the intrathecal infusion of EGF plus FGF2 has a mitogenic effect on precursor cells in the ependyma of the adult rat spinal cord.
CITATION STYLE
Kojima, A., & Tator, C. H. (2000). Epidermal growth factor and fibroblast growth factor 2 cause proliferation of ependymal precursor cells in the adult rat spinal cord in vivo. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 59(8), 687–697. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnen/59.8.687
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