Effective therapy for visual loss caused by optic nerve injury or diseases has not been achieved even though the optic nerve has the regeneration potential after injury. This study was designed to modify amniotic epithelial cells (AECs) with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) gene, preliminarily investigating its effect on transected optic nerve. A human bFGF gene segment was delivered into rat AECs (AECs/hbFGF) by lentiviral vector, and the gene expression was examined by RT-PCR and ELISA. The AECs/hbFGF and untransfected rat AECs were transplanted into the transected site of the rat optic nerve. At 28 days post transplantation, the survival and migration of the transplanted cells was observed by tracking labeled cells; meanwhile retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) were observed and counted by employing biotin dextran amine (BDA) and Nissl staining. Furthermore, the expression of growth associated protein 43 (GAP-43) within the injury site was examined with immunohistochemical staining. The AECs/hbFGF was proven to express bFGF gene and secrete bFGF peptide. Both AECs/hbFGF and AECs could survive and migrate after transplantation. RGCs counting implicated that RGCs numbers of the cell transplantation groups were significantly higher than that of the control group, and the AECs/hbFGF group was significantly higher than that of the AECs group. Moreover GAP-43 integral optical density value in the control group was significantly lower than that of the cell transplantation groups, and the value in the AECs/hbFGF group was significantly higher than that of the AECs group. AECs modified with bFGF could reduce RGCs loss and promote expression of GAP-43 in the rat optic nerve transected model, facilitating the process of neural restoration following injury.

Context: Paraquat exposure commonly occurs in the developing countries and the mortality rate is high. However, there is currently no consensus on the efficacy of treatment for paraquat exposure. Objective: The study was aimed to explore the effects of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) induced protein 6 (TSG-6) on acute lung injury (ALI) following paraquat exposure in rats. Materials and methods: Male Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the sham group (n = 8), the paraquat group (n = 8), and the paraquat TSG-6-treated group (n = 8). Rats were administered with 50 mg/kg of paraquat intraperitoneally. At 1 h after exposure, rats were treated with 30 μg of recombinant human TSG-6 (rhTSG-6) intraperitoneally. After 6 h of exposure, ALI scores were evaluated by histology and the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in lung was assayed using real-time RT-PCR. Results: ALI scores were significantly lower in the paraquat TSG-6-treated group, compared with the paraquat group (p < 0.05). The expression of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α mRNA was significantly lower in the paraquat TSG-6-treated group, compared with the paraquat group (p < 0.01, respectively). Discussion and conclusion: Administration of rhTSG-6 attenuates ALI following paraquat exposure by suppressing inflammatory response.