AUTHOR=Li Zhijun , Yu Yifei , Kang Juanjuan , Zheng Yangyang , Xu Jinying , Xu Kan , Hou Kun , Hou Yi , Chi Guangfan TITLE=MicroRNA-124 Overexpression in Schwann Cells Promotes Schwann Cell-Astrocyte Integration and Inhibits Glial Scar Formation Ability JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience VOLUME=14 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fncel.2020.00144 DOI=10.3389/fncel.2020.00144 ISSN=1662-5102 ABSTRACT=
Schwann cell (SC) transplantation is a promising approach for the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI); however, SC grafts show a low migratory capacity within the astrocytic environment, which inevitably hampers their therapeutic efficacy. The purpose of this study was to explore mechanisms to modify the characteristics of SCs and astrocytes (ASs), as well as to adjust the SC-AS interface to break the SC-AS boundary, thus improving the benefits of SCI treatment. We observed that the expression levels of miR-124 in SCs and ASs were significantly lower than those in the normal spinal cord. Furthermore, overexpressing miR-124 in SCs (miR-124-SCs) significantly inhibited gene and protein expression levels of SC-specific markers, such as GFAP and Krox20. The expression of neurotrophic factors,