Transient recovery in a rat model of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis after transplantation of motor neurons derived from mouse embryonic stem cells.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells can be induced to differentiate into motor neurons (MN). Animal models resembling MN degeneration and paralysis observed in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have been previously reported. In this work, we aimed to investigate whether transplanted MN could prevent motor deterioration in transgenic rats expressing a mutant form of human superoxide dismutase 1 (hSOD1(G93A)) associated with inherited ALS. Mouse ES cells were differentiated to neurons that express green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the promoter of the MN-specific gene hb9, as well as molecular markers indicative of MN identity. Cells were grafted into the lumbar spinal cord of adult wild-type (WT) or hSOD1(G93A) rats at 10 weeks of age, when transgenic animals are presymptomatic. Grafted cells with MN phenotype can survive for at least 1 week in hSOD1(G93A) animals. To quantitatively evaluate motor performance of WT and transgenic rats, we carried out weekly rotarod tests starting when the animals were 14 weeks old. Sham and grafted WT animals showed no decline in their ability to sustain themselves on the rotating rod. In contrast, sham hSOD1(G93A) rats decreased in motor performance from week 16 onwards, reaching paralysis by week 19 of age. In grafted transgenic animals, there was a significant improvement in rotarod competence at weeks 16 and 17 when compared to sham hSOD1(G93A). However, in the following weeks, transplanted hSOD1(G93A) rats showed motor deterioration and eventually exhibited paralysis by week 19. At end-stage, we found only a few endogenous MN in sham and grafted hSOD1(G93A) rats by cresyl violet staining; no choline acetyl transferase-positive nor GFP-positive MN were present in grafted transgenic subjects. In contrast, WT rats analyzed at the same age possessed grafted GFP-positive MN in their spinal cords. These results strongly suggest that the transgenic hSOD1(G93A) environment is detrimental to grafted MN in the long term.