Improved efficacy and safety of in utero cell transplantation in sheep using an ultrasound-guided method.
In the present study, we investigated the suitability of two methods for the transplantation of cells into ovine fetuses. The first method was an ultrasound-guided cell injection via the uterine wall. The second involved hysterotomic cell injection with an incision in the uterine wall exposing the amnion. Monkey embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived hematopoietic cells were used as donor cells. After transplantation, the abortion rate associated with the hysterotomic injection method was significantly higher than that of the ultrasound-guided injection method (8/13 versus 4/24; P < 0.01). The fetuses were delivered to examine the engraftment of transplanted monkey hematopoietic cells. Monkey cells were detected in one of the five animals (20%) in the hysterotomic injection group, and 14 of 20 animals (70%, P < 0.05) in the ultrasound-guided injection group. Therefore, the ultrasound-guided method was effectively shown to be minimally invasive for in utero transplantation and can produce a higher rate of engraftment for transplanted cells.
Nagao
Yoshikazu
Y
University Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University , Tochigi, Japan . ynagao@utsunomiya-u.ac.jp
Abe
Tomoyuki
T
Hasegawa
Hideaki
H
Tanaka
Yujiro
Y
Sasaki
Kyoko
K
Kitano
Yoshihiro
Y
Hayashi
Satoshi
S
Hanazono
Yutaka
Y
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D011247:Pregnancy; D012756:Sheep; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal