Radiation Rescue: Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Protect from Lethal Irradiation

Abstract

BackgroundSuccessful treatment of acute radiation syndromes relies on immediate supportive care. In patients with limited hematopoietic recovery potential, hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is the only curative treatment option. Because of time consuming donor search and uncertain outcome we propose MSC treatment as an alternative treatment for severely radiation-affected individuals.Methods and FindingsMouse mesenchymal stromal cells (mMSCs) were expanded from bone marrow, retrovirally labeled with eGFP (bulk cultures) and cloned. Bulk and five selected clonal mMSCs populations were characterized in vitro for their multilineage differentiation potential and phenotype showing no contamination with hematopoietic cells. Lethally irradiated recipients were i.v. transplanted with bulk or clonal mMSCs. We found a long-term survival of recipients with fast hematopoietic recovery after the transplantation of MSCs exclusively without support by HSCs. Quantitative PCR based chimerism analysis detected eGFP-positive donor cells in peripheral blood immediately after injection and in lungs within 24 hours. However, no donor cells in any investigated tissue remained long-term. Despite the rapidly disappearing donor cells, microarray and quantitative RT-PCR gene expression analysis in the bone marrow of MSC-transplanted animals displayed enhanced regenerative features characterized by (i) decreased proinflammatory, ECM formation and adhesion properties and (ii) boosted anti-inflammation, detoxification, cell cycle and anti-oxidative stress control as compared to HSC-transplanted animals.ConclusionsOur data revealed that systemically administered MSCs provoke a protective mechanism counteracting the inflammatory events and also supporting detoxification and stress management after radiation exposure. Further our results suggest that MSCs, their release of trophic factors and their HSC-niche modulating activity rescue endogenous hematopoiesis thereby serving as fast and effective first-line treatment to combat radiation-induced hematopoietic failure.

Multipotent adult progenitor cells improve the hematopoietic function in myelodysplasia

“…Moreover, a significant improvement in the hematopoietic capacity of treated MDS mice was seen compared with untreated animals. Improvement in cytopenias after MSC treatment has also been seen in mouse models of acute radiation syndrome [33,34]. In addition, MSC infusion in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with refractory cytopenias resulted in increased blood cell counts, which might have been associated with the reconstitution of regulatory T and Th17 cells [35].…”

Adipose mesenchymal stromal cells minimize and repair radiation-induced oral mucositis

“…MSCs are multipotent progenitor cells that have multi-lineage differentiation potential and recently identified anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties that have been applied in numerous current preclinical and clinical studies [55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70].…”

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Single Co-Labeled Mesenchymal Stromal Cells after Intracardial Injection in Mice

“…Furthermore, MSC are known for their immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory potential during stem cell transplantation [18 -21]. They show a considerable rescue potential after lethal irradiation [22] or chemotherapy [23]. Several studies show their positive impact on wound healing, bone, cartilage and tendon repair in clinical settings [24 -27].…”