The combination of cellular therapy with the application of growth factors offers new perspectives for the treatment of spinal cord injury. In this thesis the viability of an OEC cell line transduced with GDNF is evaluated. In vitro a constant overexpression of the transgene GDNF after retroviral transduction could be verified. In vivo after implantation of the modified OECs into the spinal cord of rats with unilateral cervical dorsal root injury an augmented level of the transgene GDNF in spinal cord tissue could be measured initially. One week after implantation, however, poor survival of the transduced cells could be observed. Hence the examined cell line is not ideally suited for therapeutic use.
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