Axonal regeneration in the lesioned mammalian central nervous system is abortive, and this causes permanent disabilities in individuals with spinal cord injuries. In adult rats, olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) transplants successfully led to functional and structural recovery after complete spinal cord transection. From 3 to 7 months post surgery, all OEG-transplanted animals recovered locomot...

Olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) express cell adhesion molecules and secrete growth factors that support newly generated olfactory axons and are a promising therapeutic treatment to facilitate axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI). To study the molecular mechanisms underlying the ability of OEG to enhance axonal outgrowth, we designed an outgrowth assay using spinal cord myelin as ...

Transplantation of olfactory bulb-derived olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) combined with step training improves hindlimb locomotion in adult rats with a complete spinal cord transection. Spinal cord injury studies use the presence of noradrenergic (NA) axons caudal to the injury site as evidence of axonal regeneration and we previously found more NA axons just caudal to the transection in OEG- ...

Sir, In general, we agree with the comments by Drs Wernig related to our recent publication (Kubasak et al., 2008) that reported improved locomotor function after olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) implantation. We, however, would like to expand upon several points. If future rodent studies of implanted OEG combined with step training also report locomotor recovery after a complete spinal cord tr...

Olfactory bulb ensheathing glia (OB-OEG) promote repair of spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats after transplantation at acute or subacute (up to 45 days) stages. The most relevant clinical scenario in humans, however, is chronic SCI, in which no more major cellular or molecular changes occur at the injury site; this occurs after the third month in rodents. Whether adult OB-OEG grafts promote repai...

We used an in vivo transplant approach to examine how adult Schwann cells and olfactory ensheathing glia OEG influence the specificity of axon-target cell interactions when they are introduced into the CNS. Populations of either Schwann cells or OEG were mixed with dissociated fetal tectal cells presumptive superior colliculus and, after reaggregation, pieces were grafted onto newborn rat super...

The formation of complex but highly organized neural circuits requires interactions between neurons and glia. During the assembly of the Drosophila olfactory circuit, 50 olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) classes and 50 projection neuron (PN) classes form synaptic connections in 50 glomerular compartments in the antennal lobe, each of which represents a discrete olfactory information-processing ch...

BACKGROUND Olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) has been shown to have a neuroprotective effect after being transplanted in rats with spinal cord injury. This study was conducted to determine the possible beneficial results of olfactory mucosa transplantation (OMT) which is a source of OEG on functional recovery and axonal regeneration after transection of the sciatic nerve. METHODS In this study...

We used an in vivo transplant approach to examine how adult Schwann cells and olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) influence the specificity of axon–target cell interactions when they are introduced into the CNS. Populations of either Schwann cells or OEG were mixed with dissociated fetal tectal cells (presumptive superior colliculus) and, after re-aggregation, pieces were grafted onto newborn rat ...

Cultured adult rat Schwann cells (SCs) or olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG), or both, were transplanted in the adult Fischer rat thoracic (T9) spinal cord 1 week after a moderate contusion (10 gm, 12.5 mm, NYU impactor). Rats received either a total of 2 x 10(6) cells suspended in culture medium or culture medium only (controls). At 12 weeks after injury, all grafted animals exhibited diminished...