title: Differentiation and migration of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells transplanted through the spleen in rats with portal hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The goals of this paper were to evaluate the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into hepatocyte-like cells in vitro, and to determine whether stem cells can migrate and plant into the liver with portal hypertension accompanied by the end-stage of liver disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  BMSCs were isolated from rats and amplified with hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and fibroblast growth factor-4 (FGF-4). The expression of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), cytokeratin 18 (CK-18), and albumin (ALB) was detected by immunofluorescence in induced cells. Rats were randomly divided into experimental (with common bile duct ligation) and control groups. After injection of fluorescence labeled cells, cell distribution was observed under a fluorescence microscope. The integrated optical density (IOD) and cell distribution scores were evaluated using Image-Pro Plus 6.0 software. The portal pressure was measured before the rats were killed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After being induced with HGF and FGF-4, the Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, and mitochondria all significantly increased in the fifth generation cells. Immunofluorescent analysis showed that the induced cells expressed AFP, CK-18, and ALB. BMSCs were stained by CM-Dil, and the labeling rate was as high as 95.5%. The portal pressure in experimental group was much higher than that of the control group (18.04±2.35 vs. 9.75±1.40 cm H2O p<0.01). The IOD of transplanted cells in the experimental group was also significantly higher than that of the control group (11.30±2.09×10(5) vs. 2.93±0.88×10(5), p<0.01). In addition, the cell distribution score in the experimental group was lower than that of the control group (1.99±0.36 vs. 2.36±0.27, P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combination of HGF and FGF-4 induces the differentiation of BMSCs into hepatocyte-like cells, which express AFP, CK-18, and ALB. In addition, the recruitment of BMSCs (after transplantation in the spleen) was improved in rats with portal hypertension.
authors: Surgical Department, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors: Song
authors: S
authors: Sun
authors: Gong
authors: G
authors: Chen
authors: Menghua
authors: M
authors: Xu
authors: Yingli
authors: Y
authors: Qiao
authors: Shan
authors: S
authors: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000418:Albumins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002465:Cell Movement; D003135:Common Bile Duct / Q000601:surgery; D051519:Fibroblast Growth Factor 4 / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D053538:Keratin-18 / Q000378:metabolism; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D051381:Rats; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism*; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000418:Albumins; C496447:Fgf4 protein, rat; D051519:Fibroblast Growth Factor 4; D053538:Keratin-18; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor