Spinal cord injury (SCI) is the damage to the neural elements in the spinal cord that results in loss of function at the site below the point of injury. Cell-based regenerative therapy, which involves replacing lost cells at the injury site with glial cells has been extensively investigated for treating SCI. Transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) has been shown to enhance functional recovery in different SCI models and has successfully restored some function in paralysed patients in a recent human trial, suggesting OECs may be a promising transplant candidate for neural regeneration.1 Due to low cell proliferation, growth factors are often used to stimulate the proliferation of the cells. However, their high molecular weight and potential side effects have limited the use of growth factors. To improve OEC transplantation therapy, the development of low molecular weight molecules, which are able to stimulate the activity of OECs is essential. Recent discovery of natural products such as curcumin2 and linckosides3, which are able to stimulate proliferation and migration of OECs raised the potential of discovering new natural compounds that enhance the therapeutic properties of OECs. To date, 100 fractions obtained from reversed-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) fractionation of 10 dichloromethane/methanol extracts derived from Australian biota, that includes marine invertebrates and terrestrial plants, have been generated and screened against OECs.From the primary screen, 2 fractions from an Australian tropical rainforest plant were found to stimulate > 25% increase in OECs proliferation activity at 10 µg/mL. Further chemical investigations and biological testing are currently on-going to identify the active compounds.
References
1. Tabakow, P., et al.; Cell Transplantation 2014, 23, (12), 1631-55.
2. Tello Velasquez, J., et al.; PLoS One 2014, 9, (10), e111787.
3. Tello Velasquez, J., et al.; Mol Cell Neurosci 2016, 75, 1-13.