title: In vivo differentiation of human umbilical cord blood-derived cells into insulin-producing beta cells.
abstract: In our study we confirmed the potential of human umbilical cord blood cells to differentiate into insulin-producing cells following transplantation into immunocompromised mice. The average number of C-peptide-positive human cells per animal was 18 +/- 13 as assessed by immunofluorescence staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization specific for human ALU sequence. Differentiation into insulin-producing cells was further confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction specific for human insulin mRNA. Successful differentiation required sublethal irradiation of xenogeneic recipient at least at a dose of 3 Gy. However, transplantation of human umbilical cord blood cells did not improve hyperglycaemia in diabetic animals. The results of our study show that human umbilical cord blood may be considered as a potential source of stem cells for treatment of diabetes mellitus.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koblas
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zacharovová
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Berková
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Leontovic
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dovolilová
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zámecník
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Saudek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D036101:Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D010179:Pancreas / Q000166:cytology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction