Effect of adipose-derived GABAergic neuron transplantation in treatment of Parkinson's disease in rats

Objective To investigate the method for inducing OABAergic neurons from adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) and observe the effect of transplantation of these neurons in the treatment of parkinsonian rats. Methods ADSCs isolated from rat inguinal fat pads were digested with collagenase, cultured and passaged in vitro, from which neural stem cells were induced using the neural stem cell culture medium prepared by our institute and identified for the stem cell markers. The neural stem cells obtained were further induced using the GABAergic neuron culture medium. After identification for the marker GAD65, the GABAergic neurons or the neural stem cells were stereotaxically transplanted into the subthalamic nucleus of the Parkinsonian rats, and the behavioral changes of the rats were observed at 2, 4 and 8 weeks after the cell transplantation. Results The neural stem cells differentiated from the ADSCs expressed the stem cell markers including nestin and neuron-specific enolase. After the second induction, the cells were positive for GAD65 as identified by immunofluorescence staining. Four weeks after transplantation of the neural stem cells and GABAergic neurons into the subthalamic nucleus, the parkinsonian rats exhibited significantly improved rotational behavior induced by apomorphine, and the improvement was especially obvious in rats with GABAergic cell transplantation. Conclusion GABAergic neurons can be induced from the rat ADSCs and transplantation of these neurons into the subthalamic nucleus can produce obvious behavioral improvement in rat models of Parkinson disease. Key words: Parkinsonian rats; Neural stem cells; Gamma aminobutyric acid neurons