Mesenchymal stem cells homing to rat lung emphysema followed by differentiation into pulmonary vascular endothelial cells / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Mesenchymal stem cells have unique homing,immunoregulation and anti-inflammatory properties.After intravenous injection,mesenchymal stem cells can home to the damaged target organs and tissues,and function to repair damaged tissues.OBJECTIVE:To observe the pathological changes of lung tissues in rats with emphysema after mesenchymal stem cells transplantation.METHODS:Twenty-four female Wistar rats were randomly divided into experimental group,control group and healthy control group.In the first two groups,the model of pulmonary emphysema was established by the method of dropping porcine pancreatic elastase.BrdU-labeled mesenchymal stem cells were injected into the tail vein of the rats in the experimental group,and PBS was injected in the control group.After 14 days,the pathological changes of lung tissues were observed.Tumor necrosis factor-α level,alveolar wall apoptotic index,anti-CD34 and anti-BrdU immunohistochemical changes in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were detected.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the healthy control group,the tumor necrosis factor-α level and apoptotic index of alveolar wall cells increased (P ＜ 0.01),and the relative areas of anti-Brdu and anti-CD34 decreased (P ＜ 0.01) in the control group.Compared with the control group,the level of tumor necrosis factor-α and apoptotic index of alveolar wall cells decreased (P ＜ 0.01),and the relative area of anti-Brdu and anti-CD34 increased (P ＜ 0.01) in the experimental group.The histopathological findings showed that both the control group and the experimental group showed emphysema-like changes,but these changes were milder in the experimental group than the control group.To conclude,mesenchymal stem cells can inhibit inflammatory response and apoptosis in experimental emphysema,improve the pathological changes of the lung,and moreover,bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can differentiate into lung vascular endothelial cells.