Mesenchymal stem cells derived extracellular vesicles improve behavioral and biochemical deficits in a phencyclidine model of schizophrenia

Hadas Tsivion-Visbord, Nisim Perets, Tamar Sofer, Lior Bikovski, Yona Goldshmit, Aangela Ruban, Offen Daniel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric disorder with a significant number of patients not adequately responding to treatment. Phencyclidine (PCP) is used as a validated model for schizophrenia, shown to reliably induce positive, negative and cognitive-like behaviors in rodents. It was previously shown in our lab that behavioral phenotypes of PCP-treated mice can be alleviated after intracranial transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). Here, we assessed the feasibility of intranasal delivery of MSCs-derived-extracellular vesicles (EVs) to alleviate schizophrenia-like behaviors in a PCP model of schizophrenia. As MSCs-derived EVs were already shown to concentrate at the site of lesion in the brain, we determined that in PCP induced injury the EVs migrate to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of treated mice, a most involved area of the brain in schizophrenia. We show that intranasal delivery of MSC-EVs improve social interaction and disruption in prepulse inhibition (PPI) seen in PCP-treated mice. In addition, immunohistochemical studies demonstrate that the EVs preserve the number of parvalbumin-positive GABAergic interneurons in the PFC of treated mice. Finally, MSCs-EVs reduced glutamate levels in the CSF of PCP-treated mice, which might explain the reduction of toxicity. In conclusion, we show that MSCs-EVs improve the core schizophrenia-like behavior and biochemical markers of schizophrenia and might be used as a novel treatment for this incurable disorder.

Original languageEnglish
Article number305
JournalTranslational Psychiatry
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2020
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
  • Biological Psychiatry

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