Role of neuregulin-1/ErbB signaling in stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury-induced chronic neuropathic pain

Feng Tao, Qun Li, Su Liu, Haiying Wu, John Skinner, Andres Hurtado, Visar Belegu, Orion Furmanski, Ya Yang, John W. McDonald, Roger A. Johns

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Chronic neuropathic pain is a common and debilitating consequence of spinal cord injury (SCI). In a rat contusion injury model, we observed that chronic neuropathic pain is present on day 7 after SCI and persists for the entire 56-day observation period. However, currently available pain therapies are inadequate for SCI-induced neuropathic pain. In this study, we show that spinal transplantation of mouse embryonic stem cell-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) enhances remyelination in the injured spinal cord and reduces SCI-induced chronic neuropathic pain. Moreover, we found that SCI reduces the protein level of neuregulin-1 and ErbB4 in the injured spinal cord and that OPC transplantation enhances the spinal expression of both proteins after SCI. Finally, intrathecal injection of neuregulin-1 small interfering RNA, but not the control nontarget RNA, diminishes OPC transplantation-produced remyelination and reverses the antinociceptive effect of OPC transplantation. Our findings suggest that the transplantation of embryonic stem cell-derived OPCs is an appropriate therapeutic intervention for treatment of SCI-induced chronic neuropathic pain, and that neuregulin-1/ErbB signaling plays an important role in central remyelination under pathological conditions and contributes to the alleviation of such pain.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)83-91
Number of pages9
JournalStem Cells
Volume31
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2013

Keywords

  • Chronic neuropathic pain
  • Neuregulin-1/ErbB signaling
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Stem cell transplantation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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