Proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells in the subventricular zone of rats after traumatic brain injury

  Objective: To investigate the time course of the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in the subventricular zone (SVZ) after traumatic brain injury.

  Method: The rats were divided into 3 groups using a random number table method. The control group did not do any treatment. The sham operation group only had the skin and skull opened. The experimental group used Feeney's method to cause head injury (TBI). Two cell markers, Nestin and BrdU, and neuron-specific markers, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and glial cell markers, GFAP, were used to perform double-labeled protein antibodies on three groups of brain tissue specimens using immunofluorescence methods. Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the proliferation and differentiation of SVZ endogenous NSCs after TBI.

  Results: After TBI, SVZNestin/NSE, Nestin/GFAP, BrdU/NSE, BrdU/GFAP labeled positive cells increased significantly on the injured side, and began to increase on the first day after injury, peaked on the third day, and returned to normal on the 14th day. The differences between the four time points of the experimental group and the corresponding time points of the experimental group and the control group were significant. Among them, the proliferation and division positive cells labeled with Nestin/GFAP increased the most.

  Conclusion: After TBI, the NSCs in the injured SVZ were mobilized to induce the proliferation and differentiation of the endogenous NSCs in this area, suggesting that SVZ is one of the important germinal centers for the proliferation and differentiation of NSCs.