Donor multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells may engraft in pediatric patients given either cord blood or bone marrow transplantation.
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.
Pozzi
Sara
S
Centro Cellule Staminali e Terapia Cellulare, Ospedale San Martino, Genova, Italy.
Lisini
Daniela
D
Podestà
Marina
M
Bernardo
Maria Ester
ME
Sessarego
Nadia
N
Piaggio
Giovanna
G
Cometa
Angela
A
Giorgiani
Giovanna
G
Mina
Tommaso
T
Buldini
Barbara
B
Maccario
Rita
R
Frassoni
Francesco
F
Locatelli
Franco
F
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*