Title page
ACKNOWLEGEMENT
Contents
ABBREVIATION 8
ABSTRACT 9
1. INTRODUCTION 10
2. MATERIALS & METHODS 13
2.1. Culture of Human ES Cells 13
2.2. Neural Differentiation of Human ES Cells 13
2.3. Karyotyping 14
2.4. RT-PCR Analysis 14
2.5. Cell Proliferation Analysis 15
2.6. Immunocytochemical Analysis 16
2.7. Spinal Cord Injury Models 16
2.8. Immunohistochemical Analysis 17
2.9. Behavioral Analysis 18
2.10. Statistical analysis 18
3. RESULTS 19
3.1. Differentiation of Human ES Cells into Neural Precursor Cells 19
3.2. Expansion and Characterization of Neural Precursor Cells 19
3.3. Behavioral Assessment of SCI Models 26
3.4. Immunohistochemical Analysis on the Grafts 26
4. DISCUSSION 30
5. CONCLUSIONS 36
6. REFERENCES 37
7. SUMMARY IN KOREAN 43
Figure 1. Morphologies of human ES cells, EBs and neuroepithelial cells 20
Figure 2. Morphology of expanded neural precursor cells on various substrates 21
Figure 3. Proliferation rate of neural precursor cells in vitro. 23
Figure 4. RT-PCR and imunocytochemical analyses neural precursor-specific markers in expanded neural precursor cells. 24
Figure 5. Position Identity of the expanded neural precursor cells 25
Figure 6. Terminal differentiation of expanded neural precursor cells 27
Figure 7. Sagittal section of spinal cords at 9weeks after contusion 28
Figure 8. BBB score analysis after transplantation 28
Figure 9. Immunohistochemical analysis for transplanted cells in injection site 29
Figure 10. Immunohistochemical analysis for transplanted cells in rats with the injured spinal cords at 2 months after transplantation 29