Neurodegeneration augments the ability of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells to fuse with Purkinje neurons in Niemann-Pick type C mice.
After transplantation, adult bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) may undergo transdifferentiation and/or cell fusion in response to new environments. However, the mechanism(s) that govern these cell fate switches remain unknown. Here we demonstrate that the pathology associated with murine Niemann-Pick disease type C (NP-C) cerebellum augments the ability of BM-MSCs to fuse with Purkinje neurons. The results suggest that the degenerative microenvironment of Purkinje neurons in the NP-C cerebellum modulates the cell fate switch of BM-MSCs via cell fusion.
Bae
Jae-Sung
JS
College of Veterinary Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea.
Furuya
Shigeki
S
Shinoda
Yoko
Y
Endo
Shogo
S
Schuchman
Edward H
EH
Hirabayashi
Yoshio
Y
Jin
Hee Kyung
HK
D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002459:Cell Fusion; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D009542:Niemann-Pick Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy* / Q000662:veterinary; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000502:physiology*