title: Bone marrow stromal cells protect and repair damaged neurons through multiple mechanisms.
abstract: A surprising shortage of information surrounds the mechanism by which bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) restore lost neurologic functions when transplanted into the damaged central nervous system. To clarify the issue, the BMSC were cocultured with the neurons using two paradigms: the cell-mixing coculture technique and three-dimensional coculture technique. The green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing BMSC were cocultured with the PKH-26-labelled neurons, using cell mixing coculture technique. GFP-positive, PKH-26-negative cells morphologically simulated the neurons and significantly increased the expression of MAP-2, Tuj-1, nestin, and GFAP. GFP/nestin-positive, PKH-26-negative cells increased from 13.6% +/- 6.7% to 32.1% +/- 15.5% over 7 days of coculture. They further enhanced Tuj-1 expression when cocultured with neurons exposed to 100 microM of glutamate for 10 min. About 20-30% of GFP-positive cells became positive for PKH-26 through coculture with the neurons, but the doubly positive cells did not increase when cocultured with glutamate-exposed neurons. Alternatively, the BMSC significantly ameliorated glutamate-induced neuronal damage when cocultured with the three-dimensional coculture technique. The protective effect was more prominent when coculture was started prior to glutamate exposure than when coculture was started just after glutamate exposure. ELISA analysis revealed that the BMSC physiologically produce NGF, BDNF, SDF-1alpha, HGF, TGFbeta-1, and IGF-1 and significantly enhanced the production of NGF and BDNF when cocultured with glutamate-exposed neurons. These findings strongly suggest that the BMSC may protect and repair the damaged neurons through multiple mechanisms, including transdifferentiation, cell fusion, and production of growth factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hokari
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuroda
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shichinohe
authors.forename: Shunsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Kazutoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hida
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002459:Cell Fusion / Q000379:methods; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D019610:Cytoprotection / Q000502:physiology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D018698:Glutamic Acid