Exploration of molecular pathways mediating electric field-directed Schwann cell migration by RNA-seq.

ABSTRACT: In peripheral nervous systems, Schwann cells wrap around axons of motor and sensory neurons to form the myelin sheath. Following spinal cord injury, Schwann cells regenerate and migrate to the lesion and are involved in the spinal cord regeneration process. Transplantation of Schwann cells into injured neural tissue results in enhanced spinal axonal regeneration. Effective directional migration of Schwann cells is critical in the neural regeneration process. In this study, we report that Schwann cells migrate anodally in an applied electric field (EF). The directedness and displacement of anodal migration increased significantly when the strength of the EF increased from 50?mV/mm to 200?mV/mm. The EF did not significantly affect the cell migration speed. To explore the genes and signaling pathways that regulate cell migration in EFs, we performed a comparative analysis of differential gene expression between cells stimulated with an EF (100?mV/mm) and those without using next-generation RNA sequencing, verified by RT-qPCR. Based on the cut-off criteria (FC?>?1.2, q?

SUBMITTER: Yao L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4532404 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature