DEVELOPMENT OF EMBRYONIC RHOMBENCEPHALON TRANSPLANTED INTO ADULT RAT CEREBELLUM

NUANCHAN KRITSANASRINUAN, NAIPHINICH KOTCHABHAKDI AND VEERASAK THERAPANCHAREON

ABSTRACT: The present experiment on neural transplantation is an attempt to investigate the mechanisms of development of embryonic neural tissues which have been grafted into the brain of adult animals. The main objectives of the present study are to find out whether grafted embryonic neural cells can survive, grow and differentiate into specific cell or neuronal types, contact with afferent fibers and integrate into host brain environment, especially when the host brain has been freshly lesioned. Embryonic rhombencepha/ic cell suspension isolated from E15 stage rat embryos were injected into the cerebellar vermis of adult rats which had been lesioned with Kainic acid (KA) one week before the transplantation. Histological observations were performed at 2, 3 and 4 weeks after transplantation. The results indicated that grafted neural cells did not only grow and differentiate into Purkinje cells (PC's) like those in the adult cerebellar cortex, but also to a certain extent integrated into damaged host brain, to replace the lost neurons. The present evidence indicates that, under freshly lesioned conditions, the host brain may be receptive to the neural grafted cells and provide a sufficiently neuronotrophic environment for further development.

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Neuro- and Behavioural Biology Center, Institute of Science and Technology for Research and Development, Mahidol University, Salaya, Naleorn Pathom 73170, Thailand.

Received August 16, 1993