Tumor necrosis factor α inhibits the migration of human oligodendrocyte precursor cells in vitro

Objective To investigate the impact of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) on the migration ability of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) derived from human adult neural stem cells (NSCs) for transplantation therapy. Methods Flow cytometry was performed to detect the expressions of platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα) and ST8 alpha-N-acetyl-neuraminide alpha-2,8-sialyltransferase 1 (ST8SIA1/A2B5) in human OPCs. OPCs were cultured and incubated with 0, 10, 100, 200 ng/mL TNF-α for 18 hours. OPC viability was detected by CCK-8 assay and OPC migration was detected by TranswellTM migration assay. Results OPCs derived from human adult NSC specifically expressed PDGFRα (87.9%) and A2B5 (40.0%). Treatment with 10 ng/mL TNF-α had no impact on OPC viability while both 100 ng/mL and 200 ng/mL TNF-α treatments decreased OPC viability significantly. OPC migration was reduced significantly in 10 ng/mL TNF-α treated group compared with the blank control. Conclusion TNF-α inhibits the migration of the cultured OPCs.