title: Adoptive transfer of mesenchymal stromal cells accelerates intestinal epithelium recovery of irradiated mice in an interleukin-6-dependent manner.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Apoptosis of radiosensitive cells in the bone marrow and gut is a serious, at times life-threatening, complication arising from radiation exposure.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated whether adoptive transfer of allogeneic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) could exert cytoprotective and life-sparing effects in a mouse model of sublethal total body irradiation (TBI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We demonstrated that a single intraperitoneal injection of C57Bl/6 MSC given to major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-mismatched Balb/c mice within 24 h of sublethal TBI significantly reduced mortality in a dose-dependent manner. Histologic analysis and Ki67 immunostaining of jejunum sections collected 3 and 6 days post-TBI indicated that MSC protected the gastrointestinal epithelium from TBI-induced damage and significantly accelerated recovery of the gut by stimulating proliferation of the crypt cell pool. Using interleukin-6(-/-) (IL-6) MSC, we demonstrated that IL-6 expressed by MSC played a role in gastrointestinal epithelium regeneration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that allogeneic MHC-mismatched MSC may be exploited to reduce gastrointestinal complications and mortality arising from ionizing radiation exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Moïra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: François
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Birman
authors.forename: Kathy-Ann
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Forner
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gaboury
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galipeau
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012038:Regeneration / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D014916:Whole-Body Irradiation
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6