Neural stem cell-like cells derived from autologous bone mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of patients with cerebral palsy.

BACKGROUND: Stem cell therapy is a promising treatment for cerebral palsy, which refers to a category of brain diseases that are associated with chronic motor disability in children. Autologous MSCs may be a better cell source and have been studied for the treatment of cerebral palsy because of their functions in tissue repair and the regulation of immunological processes. METHODS: To assess neural stem cell-like (NSC-like) cells derived from autologous marrow mesenchymal stem cells as a novel treatment for patients with moderate-to-severe cerebral palsy, a total of 60 cerebral palsy patients were enrolled in this open-label, non-randomised, observer-blinded controlled clinical study with a 6-months follow-up. For the transplantation group, a total of 30 cerebral palsy patients received an autologous NSC-like cells transplantation (1-2 × 107 cells into the subarachnoid cavity) and rehabilitation treatments whereas 30 patients in the control group only received rehabilitation treatment. RESULTS: We recorded the gross motor function measurement scores, language quotients, and adverse events up to 6 months post-treatment. The gross motor function measurement scores in the transplantation group were significantly higher at month 3 (the score increase was 42.6, 95% CI: 9.8-75.3, P=.011) and month 6 (the score increase was 58.6, 95% CI: 25.8-91.4, P=.001) post-treatment compared with the baseline scores. The increase in the Gross Motor Function Measurement scores in the control group was not significant. The increases in the language quotients at months 1, 3, and 6 post-treatment were not statistically significant when compared with the baseline quotients in both groups. All the 60 patients survived, and none of the patients experienced serious adverse events or complications. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that NSC-like cells are safe and effective for the treatment of motor deficits related to cerebral palsy. Further randomised clinical trials are necessary to establish the efficacy of this procedure.

Immunosuppressive effects of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in rat burn models.

OBJECTIVE: This study is to investigate the effects of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation in burn treatment. METHODS: Wharton's Jelly was stripped from neonatal umbilical cord, and human umbilical cord MSCs were then cultured. Burn models were constructed in male SD rats weighted at 200±5 g, and the rats were randomly divided into control and MSCs transplantation groups. The rats in transplantation group were injected subcutaneously with MSCs (2×10(6)) at 24 h after burning. Blood samples were collected at 0 d, 1 d, 2 d, 3 d, 5 d and 7 d after burning and the contents of white blood cells (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10 ) were detected. The wound healing rate at 7 d, 14 d, 21 d and 28 d together with the wound healing time were compared and analyzed statistically by analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: WBC and CRP in control group increased significantly at 1 d and 2 d, 2 d and 3 d, respectively. IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-10 levels in serum showed increasing till 5th day and TNF-α arrived its peak value at 7th day. By contrast, WBC, CRP, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 in the MSCs transplantation group showed slight increase after burning and the differences were verified by statistically analysis. IFN-γ showed no significant difference between the two groups. MSCs transplantation group showed significantly higher wound healing rate at 14 d, 21 d, 28 d and showed shorter wound healing time than control. CONCLUSIONS: MSCs transplantation could suppress secondary inflammatory reaction by lowering inflammatory cytokines after burning, thus promoting wound healing and scald repair in burn animal model.

Directed differentiation of aged human bone marrow multipotent stem cells effectively generates dopamine neurons.

This study aimed to isolate aged human bone marrow multipotent stem cells (hAMSCs) with the potential for multilineage differentiation and to directly induce the cells to generate dopamine neurons, which could be used for Parkinson's disease therapy. We compared different culture methods for stem cells from aged human bone marrow and identified hAMSCs that could proliferate in vitro for at least 60 doubling times. Using RT-PCR and IHC, we found that these hAMSCs expressed pluripotent genes, such as Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog. In vitro studies also proved that hAMSCs could differentiate into three germ layer-derived cell types, such as osteogenic, chondrogenic, adipogenic, and hepatocyte-liked cells. After induction for more than 20 d in vitro with retinoic acid, basic fibroblast growth factor, and sonic hedgehog using a two-step method and withdrawal of serum, hAMSCs could differentiate into dopamine neurons at the positive ratio of 70%, which showed DA secretion function upon depolarization. In conclusion, we suggest that hAMSCs can be used as cell sources to develop medical treatments to prevent the progression of Parkinson's disease, especially in aged persons.

Distinct roles of sAPP-α and sAPP-ß in regulating U251 cell differentiation.

Sequential cleavages of APP by ß-secretase and γ-secretase release ß-amyloid (Aß) and one secreted form of APP (sAPP-ß) in Alzheimer' s disease (AD). Alternatively, in non-pathological situations, APP is predominantly cleaved by α-secretase within the amyloid sequence, to release the other soluble form of APP, sAPP-α. However, the functions of the two types of sAPP are still unclear. We performed this study to compare the function of sAPP-α and sAPP-ß in differentiation of the glioma cell line U251. We found that sAPP-α suppressed astrocytic differentiation and promoted neuronal differentiation in U251 cells. Additionally, sAPP-α enhanced U251 terminal differentiation into a cholinergic-like neuronal phenotype. In contrast, sAPP-ß suppressed neuronal differentiation and promoted the astrocytic differentiation of U251 cells. These findings could not only enrich the knowledge of the potential physiological function of sAPP-α and sAPP-ß, but also indicate that they may be connected to the pathological mechanism of AD. Furthermore, these findings suggest that new strategies, such as increasing the level of sAPP-α and/or decreasing the level of sAPP-ß in brain, or transplanting stem cells with increased sAPP-α and/or decreased sAPP-ß, may have potential value for AD treatment.

Rat marrow-derived multipotent adult progenitor cells differentiate into skin epidermal cells in vivo.

Wound repair and functional reconstruction are two key aspects for treatment of skin injury. Research on cell source for skin repair has become a focus of study. The immune rejection induced by allograft cells and the limited source of autologous epidermal stem cells have led to more attention on the multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPC). In this study, we examined the influence of the local environment of skin injury on the migration and differentiation of MAPC in nude mice. The homing of MAPC to the wounds and the epidermal differentiation of MAPC were investigated by detecting the expression of specific antigens of rat major histocompatibility complex I (MHC-I) antigen and the tracing markers. Three weeks after transplantation, hair follicle-like structure appeared and rat MHC-I antigen was positive in the follicles of the healed skin. PKH26-labeled cells expressing cytokeratin were found in the regenerated follicle-like structures, sebaceous glands and sweat glands. Our findings indicate that MAPC can migrate to the skin injury site and the hair follicles, and participate in skin wound healing by differentiating into epidermal cells, which contributes to the theoretical research of MAPC plasticity and provides theoretical evidence for clinical application of transplantation therapy with MAPC.

Simultaneous expression of Oct4 and genes of three germ layers in single cell-derived multipotent adult progenitor cells.

Future application of adult stem cells in clinical therapies largely depends on the successful isolation of homogeneous stem cells with high plasticity. Multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs) are thought to be a more primitive stem cell population capable of extensive in vitro proliferation with no senescence or loss of differentiation capability. The present study was aimed to find a less complicated and more economical protocol for obtaining single cell-derived MAPCs and understand the molecule mechanism of multi-lineage differentiation of MAPCs. We successfully obtained a comparatively homogeneous population of MAPCs and confirmed that single cell-derived MAPCs were able to transcribe Oct4 and genes of three germ layers simultaneously, and differentiate into multiple lineages. Our observations suggest that single cell-derived MAPCs under appropriate circumstances could maintain not only characteristics of stem cells but multi-lineage differentiation potential through quantitative modulation of corresponding regulating gene expression, rather than switching on expression of specific genes.