Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe progressive muscle-wasting disorder caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. Studies have shown that bone marrow cells transplanted into lethally irradiated mdx mice, the mouse model of DMD, can become part of skeletal muscle myofibers. Whether human marrow cells also have this ability is unknown. Here we report the analysis of muscle biopsies from a DMD patient (DMD-BMT1) who received bone marrow transplantation at age 1 year for X-linked severe combined immune deficiency and who was diagnosed with DMD at age 12 years. Analysis of muscle biopsies from DMD-BMT1 revealed the presence of donor nuclei within a small number of muscle myofibers (0.5-0.9%). The majority of the myofibers produce a truncated, in-frame isoform of dystrophin lacking exons 44 and 45 (not wild-type). The presence of bone marrow-derived donor nuclei in the muscle of this patient documents the ability of exogenous human bone marrow cells to fuse into skeletal muscle and persist up to 13 years after transplantation.
The multipotent nature of skeletal muscle-derived side population cells is demonstrated by their myogenic and hematopoietic potential in vivo. However, whether muscle side population cells are derived from the bone marrow is unclear. To study the long-term contribution of the hematopoietic system to muscle side population, whole bone marrow cells from Ly5.1 males or from e-GFP transgenic male mice were transplanted into lethally irradiated Ly5.2 females. Long-term cell trafficking of donor bone marrow cells to muscle side population was monitored 17 times in a 34-week study. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter analyses were used to detect Ly5.1 and GFP+ donor cells, which were confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization of the Y-chromosome. Analyses post-transplantation indicated that whereas cells of donor origin could be found in the muscle, donor bone marrow cells had contributed little to the muscle side population. Attempts to increase cell trafficking by induced muscle damage again confirmed that more than 90% of side population cells present in the muscle were derived from the host. These results demonstrate that muscle side population cells are not replenished by the bone marrow and suggest a non-hematopoietic origin for this cell population.
S U M M A R YMuscle side population (SP) cells have demonstrated hematopoietic and myogenic activities in vivo upon intravenous (IV) injection into lethally irradiated mdx mice. In contrast, muscle main population (MP) cells were unable to rescue the bone marrow of lethally irradiated mice and, consequently, their in vivo myogenic potential could not be assessed using this method. In the current study, muscle SP or MP cells derived from syngeneic wild-type male mice were delivered to sub-lethally irradiated mdx female mice by single or serial IV injections. Recipient mice were euthanized 12 weeks after transplantation at which time the quadriceps and diaphragm muscles were analyzed for the presence of donor-derived cells. Mice injected with 10 4 muscle SP cells or with 10 6 MP cells appeared to have similar numbers of dystrophin-positive myofibers containing fused donor nuclei. Analysis of the remaining tissue via real-time quantitative PCR indicated that mice injected with muscle SP cells had a higher percentage of donor-derived Y-DNA in the quadriceps than mice injected with MP cells, suggesting that muscle SP cells may be enriched for progenitors able to engraft dystrophic skeletal muscles from the circulation. Although the overall engraftment did not reach therapeutically significant levels, these results indicate that further optimization of cell delivery techniques may lead to improved efficacy of cellmediated therapy using muscle SP cells.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe progressive muscle-wasting disorder caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. Studies have shown that bone marrow cells transplanted into lethally irradiated mdx mice, the mouse model of DMD, can become part of skeletal muscle myofibers. Whether human marrow cells also have this ability is unknown. Here we report the analysis of muscle biopsies from a DMD patient (DMD-BMT1) who received bone marrow transplantation at age 1 year for X-linked severe combined immune deficiency and who was diagnosed with DMD at age 12 years. Analysis of muscle biopsies from DMD-BMT1 revealed the presence of donor nuclei within a small number of muscle myofibers (0.5-0.9%). The majority of the myofibers produce a truncated, in-frame isoform of dystrophin lacking exons 44 and 45 (not wild-type). The presence of bone marrow-derived donor nuclei in the muscle of this patient documents the ability of exogenous human bone marrow cells to fuse into skeletal muscle and persist up to 13 years after transplantation
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