Anoikis is a type of apoptosis due to the detachment from the extracellular 
matrix and neighboring cells. In case of cell transplantation therapy for spinal 
cord injury, preparation of graft cells includes dissociation of cultured cells, 
which may cause anoikis-induced cell death. Thus suppression of anoikis may 
increase survival of grafted cells. Here we tested the effect of brain-derived 
neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on anoikis-induced cell death of cultured Schwann 
cells. Schwann cells were collected and cultured from sciatic nerves of neonatal 
Wistar rats. Schwann cells were plated upon a non-adherent polyhydroxyethyl 
methacrylate substrate to induce anoikis. BDNF was added into the culture medium 
at various concentrations. Twenty-four hours after non-adherent culture, 
approximately 40% of Schwann cells died and BDNF significantly decreased the 
number of dead cells in that culture condition. Next, Schwann cells were 
transplanted with or without BDNF treatment into contused rat spinal cord 1 week 
after injury. Five weeks after transplantation, immunohistochemistry revealed 
that the number of transplanted cells was significantly larger in the 
BDNF-treated group than that of the non-treated group. Suppression of anoikis 
may increase survival of grafted cells in case of cell therapy for spinal cord 
injury.