Characteristics of neural growth and cryopreservation of the dorsal root ganglion using three-dimensional collagen hydrogel culture versus conventional culture

作者：Zekai Cui, Shenyang Li, Kai Liao, Zhi-Jie Wang, Yonglong Guo, Zhijie Wang, Shibo Tang, Jacey Hongjie Ma, Jiansu Chen · 发表于：Neural Regeneration Research · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.4103/1673-5374.306097 · 被引用次数：19 · 研究领域：Nerve injury and regeneration、Cellular Mechanics and Interactions、Axon Guidance and Neuronal Signaling

In vertebrates, most somatosensory pathways begin with the activation of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. The development of an appropriate DRG culture method is a prerequisite for establishing in vitro peripheral nerve disease models and for screening therapeutic drugs. In this study, we compared the changes in morphology, molecular biology, and transcriptomics of chicken embryo DRG cultured on tissue culture plates (T-DRG) versus three-dimensional collagen hydrogels (C-DRG). Our results showed that after 7 days of culture, the transcriptomics of T-DRG and C-DRG were quite different. The upregulated genes in C-DRG were mainly related to neurogenesis, axon guidance, and synaptic plasticity, whereas the downregulated genes in C-DRG were mainly related to cell proliferation and cell division. In addition, the genes related to cycles/pathways such as the synaptic vesicle cycle, cyclic adenosine monophosphate signaling pathway, and calcium signaling pathway were activated, while those related to cell-cycle pathways were downregulated. Furthermore, neurogenesis- and myelination-related genes were highly expressed in C-DRG, while epithelial-mesenchymal transition-, apoptosis-, and cell division-related genes were suppressed. Morphological results indicated that the numbers of branches, junctions, and end-point voxels per C-DRG were significantly greater than those per T-DRG. Furthermore, cells were scattered in T-DRG and more concentrated in C-DRG, with a higher ratio of 5-ethyn...