Journal article

Optogenetic Demonstration of Functional Innervation of Mouse Colon by Neurons Derived From Transplanted Neural Cells

Lincon A Stamp, Rachel M Gwynne, Jaime PP Foong, Alan E Lomax, Marlene M Hao, David I Kaplan, Christopher A Reid, Steven Petrou, Andrew M Allen, Joel C Bornstein, Heather M Young

GASTROENTEROLOGY | W B SAUNDERS CO-ELSEVIER INC | Published : 2017

Abstract

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Cell therapy offers the potential to treat gastrointestinal motility disorders caused by diseased or absent enteric neurons. We examined whether neurons generated from transplanted enteric neural cells provide a functional innervation of bowel smooth muscle in mice. METHODS: Enteric neural cells expressing the light-sensitive ion channel, channelrhodopsin, were isolated from the fetal or postnatal mouse bowel and transplanted into the distal colon of 3- to 4-week-old wild-type recipient mice. Intracellular electrophysiological recordings of responses to light stimulation of the transplanted cells were made from colonic smooth muscle cells in recipient mice. Electrical stim..

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project grant APP1079234 to Heather M. Young, Lincon A. Stamp, and Joel C. Bornstein, and NHMRC Senior Fellowship APP1002506 to Heather M. Young. The study sponsor played no role in study design or in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data.