Axons of olfactory receptor cells (ORCs) grow from the olfactory epithelium (OE) to the olfactory bulb (OB), where they travel through the olfactory nerve layer (ONL) of the OB, reorganize extensively, and innervate specific synaptic targets in the glomeruli. Within the ONL a unique population of glial cells, the olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), surround ORC axon fascicles and accompany them...

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness and safety of transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells for functional repair of the spinal cord. An olfactory bulb was obtained from a 4- to 5-month-old aborted fetus, and it was digested into single olfactory ensheathing cells and then cultured and purified for 1 to 2 weeks. Under general anesthesia, these single-cell suspensions o...

introduction: spinal cord injuries (sci) lead to permanent irreversible functional deficits.  poor prognosis of patients is the motivation of searching a treatment for the chronic injury.  planting stem cells provides us with a promising strategy. in the meanwhile, the use of olfactory ensheathing cells (oecs) has shown very good results.  this study aims at evaluating the effect of transplante...

The origin of GnRH-1 cells and olfactory ensheathing cells has been controversial. Genetic Cre-lox lineage tracing of the neural crest (NC) versus ectodermal contribution to the developing nasal placode was performed using two complementary mouse models, the NC-specific Wnt1Cre mouse line and an ectodermal-specific Crect mouse line. Using these lines we prove that the NC give rise to the olfact...

The Effect of Silybinin on the Expression Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) in Olfactory Ensheathing Cells under Normal High Glucose Conditions

OECs for spinal cord repair: Is repairing the injured spinal cord by olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC) transplantation possible? A recent human trial in which a paralysed man regained some function after transplantation of partially purified OECs suggests that this therapy may be a successful approach (Tabakow et al., 2014). In another human trial in which olfactory mucosa lamina propria was tra...

After injury, the CNS undergoes an astrocyte stress response characterized by reactive astrocytosis/proliferation, boundary formation, and increased glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) expression. Previously, we showed that in vitro astrocytes exhibit this stress response when in contact with Schwann cells but not olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs)...

Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) have been reported to migrate long distances and to bridge lesion sites, guiding axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI). To understand mechanisms of OEC migration and axonal guidance, we injected lamina propria OECs 1 mm rostral and caudal to C4 SCI sites. One month later, OECs formed an apparent migrating cell tract continuously extending from the...

Although a large number of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients have undergone transplantation procedures with olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) in the Bejing Hospital, to our knowledge, no post-mortem neuropathologic analyses have been performed. We examined the post-mortem brain of two Italian patients affected by ALS who underwent cellular transplantation in Beijing with their conse...