Hyaluronic Acid/Polylysine Hydrogel as a Transfer System for Transplantation of Neural Stem Cells

Abstract

Graft integration and survival are major factors that limit cell therapy for diseases and injury in the central nervous system. Efforts to improve graft survival and integration have focused on the development of biocompatible scaffolds to support neural cells. In this study, rat neural stem cells (NSC), including neurospheres and single cells, were seeded into hyaluronic acid/polylysine hydrogels. Confocal microscopy was used to noninvasively investigate the key cell phonotypes. After culture for 5 days, single NSC had survived and differentiated into neurons and astrocytes, while neurosphereforming cells had migrated from their original aggregate and maintained the NSC phonotype. These studies, carried out in the absence of serum, identified HA/polylysine hydrogels as potential synthetic cell carriers for transplantation of NSC.