Amitotic Neuroblastoma Cells used for Neural Implants in Monkeys

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 233; no. 4771; pp. 1420 - 1422
• Main Authors: Gash, D. M., Notter, M. F. D., Okawara, S. H., Kraus, A. L., Joynt, R. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC The American Association for the Advancement of Science 26.09.1986; American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Autoradiography; Biological and medical sciences; Blood plasma; Brain; Brain - cytology; Brain research; Cell Line; Cell lines; Cellular differentiation; Cercopithecus aethiops; Cultured cells; DNA Replication; Female; Humans; Implants; Male; Medical research; Medical sciences; Neoplasm Transplantation; Nervous system; Nervous system involvement in other diseases. Miscellaneous; Neuroblastoma; Neuroblastoma - pathology; Neurology; Neurons; Neurons - transplantation; Pain; Primates; Thymidine - metabolism; Tissue grafting; Transplantation; Tritium; Human; Nervous system diseases; Monkey; Brain (Vertebrata); Transplantation; Neuroblastoma; Experimental study; Long term; Survival; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Neuron; Primates; Amitose; Tumor; Child; Tumor cell; Hippocampus
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.3749886

The potential utility of cultured neuroblastoma cells as donor tissue for neural implants into the mammalian brain has been examined. Cells from a human neuroblastoma cell line, IMR-32, were labeled with [$^{3}$H]thymidine and chemically rendered amitotic. These differentiated IMR-32 cells were grafted into the hippocampi of five adult African Green monkeys, and graft survival was evaluated for up to 270 days after transplantation. Autoradiographically labeled grafted cells were identified in four animals. Processes from grafted cells could be followed for distances of up to 150 micrometers into the host brain. No evidence for neoplastic growth of the transplant was found. Thus, grafted neuroblastoma cells can survive for prolonged periods in the primate brain and may serve as a practical source of donor tissue for neural implants.