title: Donor multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells may engraft in pediatric patients given either cord blood or bone marrow transplantation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are endowed with multilineage differentiative potential and immunomodulatory properties. It is still a matter of debate whether donor MSCs have sustained engraftment potential in host bone marrow (BM) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The aim of this study was to analyze the donor/recipient origin of MSCs in children receiving allogeneic either BM or cord blood (CB) transplantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-seven pediatric patients undergoing allo-HSCT for either a malignant or a nonmalignant disorder were enrolled in the study; 19 received CB and 18 BM transplantation. Results were compared with those obtained in 14 adults given BM transplantation for either malignant or nonmalignant disorders. MSCs were grown from BM aspirates obtained 1-17 and 2-192 months after allo-HSCT in pediatric and adult patients, respectively. MSC samples at the third-fourth passage were phenotypically characterized. Donor/recipient origin of MSCs was assessed by amelogenin assay and microsatellite analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MSCs could be grown from 30 of 37 children; at the third-fourth passage MSCs resulted positive (> or = 98%) for CD73, CD105, CD106, CD29, CD13, CD44 and negative (< or = 1%) for CD34, CD45, CD14. Mixed chimerism with donor cells was observed in 4 BM and 5 CB transplantation recipients, respectively; full recipient chimerism was detected in the remaining children. Full recipient MSC chimerism was observed also in all assessable (12/14) adult patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BM of pediatric patients might be a more favorable milieu than that of adults for sustained engraftment of transplanted MSCs. MSCs able to engraft in the host can be transferred with cryopreserved CB units.
authors.affiliation: Centro Cellule Staminali e Terapia Cellulare, Ospedale San Martino, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pozzi
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lisini
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Podestà
authors.forename: Maria Ester
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bernardo
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sessarego
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piaggio
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cometa
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giorgiani
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mina
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Buldini
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maccario
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frassoni
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Locatelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000166:cytology*; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000166:cytology*