Cellular basis of tissue regeneration by omentum.
The omentum is a sheet-like tissue attached to the greater curvature of the stomach and contains secondary lymphoid organs called milky spots. The omentum has been used for its healing potential for over 100 years by transposing the omental pedicle to injured organs (omental transposition), but the mechanism by which omentum helps the healing process of damaged tissues is not well understood. Omental transposition promotes expansion of pancreatic islets, hepatocytes, embryonic kidney, and neurons. Omental cells (OCs) can be activated by foreign bodies in vivo. Once activated, they become a rich source for growth factors and express pluripotent stem cell markers. Moreover, OCs become engrafted in injured tissues suggesting that they might function as stem cells.Omentum consists of a variety of phenotypically and functionally distinctive cells. To understand the mechanism of tissue repair support by the omentum in more detail, we analyzed the cell subsets derived from the omentum on immune and inflammatory responses. Our data demonstrate that the omentum contains at least two groups of cells that support tissue repair, immunomodulatory myeloid derived suppressor cells and omnipotent stem cells that are indistinguishable from mesenchymal stem cells. Based on these data, we propose that the omentum is a designated organ for tissue repair and healing in response to foreign invasion and tissue damage.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
Shivanee
S
Shah
Erin
E
Lowery
Rudolf K
RK
Braun
Alicia
A
Martin
Nick
N
Huang
Melissa
M
Medina
Periannan
P
Sethupathi
Yoichi
Y
Seki
Mariko
M
Takami
Kathryn
K
Byrne
Christopher
C
Wigfield
Robert B
RB
Love
Makio
M
Iwashima
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000633:toxicity; D015153:Blotting, Western; D018893:Bronchoalveolar Lavage; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D055370:Lung Injury / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000628:therapy*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000378:metabolism; D009852:Omentum / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000637:transplantation; D053495:Osteopontin / Q000378:metabolism; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D016378:Tissue Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000502:physiology; D039901:Totipotent Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*
D017931:DNA Primers; D053495:Osteopontin; D001761:Bleomycin; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; C496317:Nos2 protein, mouse