Hoechst 33342 a suitable fluorescent marker for Schwann cells after transplantation in the mouse spinal cord

Purified rat Schwann cells labeled with Hoechst 33342 were transplanted into a lysophosphatidyl choline induced myelin lesion of the adult shiverer mouse spinal cord. Remyelination by grafted Schwann cells within the lesion was evidenced by codetection of Hoechst labeled Schwann cells and Po (peripheral myelin protein) immunolabeled myelin on serial cryostat sections and confirmed on adjacent sections by electron microscopy. These data show that the Hoechst-shiverer model is an excellent model which can be used in intraspinal transplantation of myelin forming cells to demonstrate the origin of the newly formed myelin. Using this model, we bring the unquestionable evidence that cultured Schwann cells are capable after transplantation to participate with host oligodendrocytes in repair of a myelin lesion of the central nervous system.