Peripheral nerve regeneration by bone marrow stromal cells

Abstract

Adult bone marrow contains stem cells that have attracted interest through their possible use for cell therapy in neurological diseases. Bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) were harvested from donor adult rats, cultured and pre-labeled with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) previously to be injected in the distal stump of transected sciatic nerve of the rats. Distal nerve stump of control rats received culture medium solution. MSCs-treated rats exhibit significant improvement on walking track test at days 18 and 33 compared to controls. Dual immunofluorescence labeling shows that BrdU reactive cells survive in the injected area of transected sciatic nerve at least 33 days after implantation, and almost 5% of BrdU cells express Schwann cell-like phenotype (S100 immunoreactivity). Because MSCs injected in a lesioned peripheral nerve can survive, migrate, differentiate in Schwann cells, and promote functional recovery, they may be an important source for cellular therapy in several neurological diseases.

Potential of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells in Applications for Neuro-Degenerative, Neuro-Traumatic and Muscle Degenerative Diseases

“…Cuevas et al described the migration and integration of MSCs following the injection into the site of a sciatic nerve repair [14]. Terenghi et al treated MSCs with glial growth factor, a powerful Schwann cell mitogen, to induce them to GFAP and S-100 positive cells and recognized a small population of Schwann cell-like cells within the treated MSCs [67].…”

The effect of stem cells in bridging peripheral nerve defects: a meta-analysis

“…42 Furthermore, the transition from stem cell to Schwann cell has been encountered previously and thus indicates that this could be a vital factor in explaining the beneficial effect. 6,7,39,45 Schwann cells, however, not only myelinate; Höke et al 14 showed that the Schwann cell phenotype can be modulated, for example, into motor or sensory Schwann cells. Also, the stem cells offer a more supporting and productive role, producing neural growth stimulating factors.…”

Nerve tÝssue prefabrÝcatÝon ÝnsÝde the rat femoral bone: does Ýt work?

“…As demonstrated previously, BMSCs implanted within the conduits can synthesize neurotrophic factors and extracellular matrix elements for peripheral nerve regeneration (2,25). Furthermore it was well documented that BMSCs can differentiate exclusively into SCs in vivo (3,6,25) and in vitro (7,11,12,16,18,23) and promote axonal regeneration if the appropriate microenvironment or cell culture conditions were constituted.…”

“…BMSCs have pluripotent plasticity to differentiate into different cells including neural cell lineage under convenient conditions (9). Recently, introduction of undifferentiated (2,6,12,20) and transdifferentiated (7,11,(16)(17)(18) BMSCs into nerve conduits represents a popular approach for peripheral nerve regeneration. It has been demonstrated that BMSCs in the surgical repair of peripheral nerves have improved axonal regeneration and functional recovery.…”