title: Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells do not differentiate into neural cell types or integrate into the retina after intravitreal grafting in neonatal rats.
abstract: This study investigated the ability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from full-term human umbilical cord blood to survive, integrate and differentiate after intravitreal grafting to the degenerating neonatal rat retina following intracranial optic tract lesion. MSCs survived for 1 week in the absence of immunosuppression. When host animals were treated with cyclosporin A and dexamethasone to suppress inflammatory and immune responses, donor cells survived for at least 3 weeks, and were able to spread and cover the entire vitreal surface of the host retina. However, MSCs did not significantly integrate into or migrate through the retina. They also maintained their human antigenicity, and no indication of neural differentiation was observed in retinas where retinal ganglion cells either underwent severe degeneration or were lost. These results have provided the first in vivo evidence that MSCs derived from human umbilical cord blood can survive for a significant period of time when the host rat response is suppressed even for a short period. These results, together with the observation of a lack of neuronal differentiation and integration of MSCs after intravitreal grafting, has raised an important question as to the potential use of MSCs for neural repair through the replacement of lost neurons in the mammalian retina and central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Neurosciences, Imperial College London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zwart
authors.forename: Henry H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Navarrete
authors.forename: Ling-Sun
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Jen
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Navarrete
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology*; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers