Approximately half of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) cases affect cervical spinal cord regions, resulting in debilitating and often chronic respiratory compromise. The majority of these injuries affect mid-cervical spinal cord levels, the location of the important pool of phrenic motor neurons (PMNs) that innervates the diaphragm, the primary muscle of inspiration. Following initial trauma to cervical spinal cord, a valuable opportunity exists for preventing secondary PMN degeneration and consequently preserving respiratory function. One of the major causes of secondary injury following SCI is excitotoxic cell death due to dysregulation of extracellular glutamate homeostasis. In the central nervous system (CNS), glutamate is efficiently cleared from the synapse and other sites by glutamate transporters. Astrocytes are supportive glial cells that play a host of crucial roles in CNS function. In particular, astrocytes express the major CNS glutamate transporter, GLT1, which is responsible for the vast majority of functional glutamate uptake in most CNS regions, particularly spinal cord. Preliminary findings from our lab show that: 1) levels of intraspinal GLT1 expression and GLT1-mediated glutamate uptake are reduced in an animal model of cervical contusion SCI;2) histological and functional outcomes following SCI are worsened in GLT1 heterozygous mice;3) increasing intraspinal GLT1 levels via injection of AAV1-GLT1 viral vector decreases PMN loss and diaphragm dysfunction after cervical contusion;4) intraspinal astrocyte transplantation decreases secondary degeneration after thoracic contusion, and transplantation of astrocytes engineered to constitutively overexpress GLT1 further enhances efficacy. Proposed studies will test the central hypothesis that astrocyte GLT1 loss plays a key role in secondary respiratory PMN degeneration. With the goal of developing a viable therapy for SCI patients, studies will test intraspinal transplantation of a clinically-relevant source of cells, human induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cell- derived astrocytes (hIPSAs), in a cervical contusion model. By targeting GLT1, this stem cell-based astrocyte replacement strategy aims to protect PMNs from glutamate excitotoxicity during secondary degeneration. As therapeutic efficacy is a function of transplant integration in diseased CNS, studies in Aim #1 will characterize in vivo survival, differentiation and long-term safety of hIPSAs following intraspinal transplantation in a mouse model of cervical contusion SCI. As GLT1 is a promising target for transplant-based astrocyte replacement in SCI, studies in Aim #2 will examine in vivo ability of transplanted hIPSAs to express GLT1 and to increase intraspinal GLT1 protein and glutamate uptake levels after cervical contusion. Results will show whether, similar to endogenous astrocytes after contusion SCI, transplanted hIPSAs have reduced propensity for GLT1 expression and function, which has important relevance for their therapeutic potential in SCI. hIPSAs will also be engineered to constitutively overexpress GLT1 to enhance therapeutic potential.
In Aim #3, studies will evaluate in vivo efficacy of hIPSAs for PMN protection and consequent preservation of diaphragm function.

Public Health Relevance

Following the majority of human spinal cord injury (SCI) cases, most functional loss does not result from initial trauma, but is instead due to subsequent secondary injury resulting from events such as excitotoxic cell death due to increased levels of the neuron-to-neuron communication molecule, glutamate. The astrocyte glutamate transporter, GLT1, is centrally responsible for the vast majority of glutamate removal from the extracellular space in the spinal cord, thereby preventing excess glutamate buildup and excitotoxic injury. The studies proposed in this application will examine the role played by astrocyte GLT1 in secondary degeneration of respiratory motor neurons and consequent respiratory dysfunction in a cervical spinal cord animal model of SCI, and will also therapeutically target astrocyte GLT1 as a promising neuroprotective approach via intraspinal transplantation of adult-derived astrocyte stem cells.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01NS079702-02
Application #
8623154
Study Section
Clinical Neuroplasticity and Neurotransmitters Study Section (CNNT)
Program Officer
Jakeman, Lyn B
Project Start
2013-03-01
Project End
2018-02-28
Budget Start
2014-03-01
Budget End
2015-02-28
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
$641,912
Indirect Cost
$220,771
Name
Thomas Jefferson University
Department
Neurosciences
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
053284659
City
Philadelphia
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
19107
Ghosh, Biswarup; Wang, Zhicheng; Nong, Jia et al. (2018) Local BDNF Delivery to the Injured Cervical Spinal Cord using an Engineered Hydrogel Enhances Diaphragmatic Respiratory Function. J Neurosci 38:5982-5995
Goulão, Miguel; Ghosh, Biswarup; Urban, Mark W et al. (2018) Astrocyte progenitor transplantation promotes regeneration of bulbospinal respiratory axons, recovery of diaphragm function, and a reduced macrophage response following cervical spinal cord injury. Glia :
Muqeem, Tanziyah; Ghosh, Biswarup; Pinto, Vitor et al. (2018) Regulation of Nociceptive Glutamatergic Signaling by Presynaptic Kv3.4 Channels in the Rat Spinal Dorsal Horn. J Neurosci 38:3729-3740
Urban, Mark W; Ghosh, Biswarup; Strojny, Laura R et al. (2018) Cell-type specific expression of constitutively-active Rheb promotes regeneration of bulbospinal respiratory axons following cervical SCI. Exp Neurol 303:108-119
Lane, Michael A; Lepore, Angelo C; Fischer, Itzhak (2017) Improving the therapeutic efficacy of neural progenitor cell transplantation following spinal cord injury. Expert Rev Neurother 17:433-440
Charsar, Brittany A; Urban, Mark W; Lepore, Angelo C (2017) Harnessing the power of cell transplantation to target respiratory dysfunction following spinal cord injury. Exp Neurol 287:268-275
Goulão, Miguel; Lepore, Angelo C (2016) iPS cell transplantation for traumatic spinal cord injury. Curr Stem Cell Res Ther 11:321-8
Falnikar, Aditi; Hala, Tamara J; Poulsen, David J et al. (2016) GLT1 overexpression reverses established neuropathic pain-related behavior and attenuates chronic dorsal horn neuron activation following cervical spinal cord injury. Glia 64:396-406
Nicaise, Charles; Mitrecic, Dinko; Falnikar, Aditi et al. (2015) Transplantation of stem cell-derived astrocytes for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal cord injury. World J Stem Cells 7:380-98
Falnikar, Aditi; Li, Ke; Lepore, Angelo C (2015) Therapeutically targeting astrocytes with stem and progenitor cell transplantation following traumatic spinal cord injury. Brain Res 1619:91-103

Showing the most recent 10 out of 19 publications