OBJECTIVETo culture olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) of rats in vitro and to investigate its morphology, mitosis and immunocytochemistry, and to explore if the OECs could be a new donation for transplantation.

METHODSOECs were harvested from olfactory mucosa of Sprague Dawley rats based on the differing rates of attachment of the various cell types, followed by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), nerve growth factor (NGF), anti-low affinity receptor for NGF (NGFRp75), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and S-100 immunocytochemistry. The morphological changes and mitosis were observed under a phase contrast microscope at different culture time.

RESULTSThree morphologically distinct types of cells, bipolar, multipolar and flat morphology were present in the primary culture of adult rat olfactory mucosa. Mitosis was characterized by a retraction of all processes, forming a sphere that divided into spherical daughter cells, the daughter cells sent out their processes. The OECs were immunoreactive for GFAP, NGFRp75, S-100, NGF, BDNF and NT-3.

CONCLUSIONSThe OECs from nasal olfactory mucosa cultivated in the medium with fetal bovine serum could survive, divide, differentiate, and express the neurotrophin. It may become an accessible source for autologous grafting in spinal cord injury.