Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation promotes adult neurogenesis in the brains of Alzheimer's disease mice

In the present study, we transplanted adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells into the hippo-campi of APP/PS1 transgenic Alzheimer＇s disease model mice. Immunofluorescence staining revealed that the number of newly generated （BrdU＋） cells in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus was signiifcantly higher in Alzheimer＇s disease mice after adipose-de-rived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation, and there was also a significant increase in the number of BrdU＋/DCX＋neuroblasts in these animals. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation enhanced neurogenic activity in the subventricular zone as well. Furthermore, adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation reduced oxidative stress and alleviated cognitive impairment in the mice. Based on these ifndings, we propose that adipose-derived mes-enchymal stem cell transplantation enhances endogenous neurogenesis in both the subgranular and subventricular zones in APP/PS1 transgenic Alzheimer＇s disease mice, thereby facilitating functional recovery.

Differentiation of isolated human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into neural stem cells

AIM：To investigate whether umbilical cord human mesenchymal stem cell（UC-MSC）was able to differentiate into neural stem cell and neuron.·METHODS：The umbilical cords were o btained from pregnant women with their written consent and the approval of the Clinic Ethnics Committee.UC-MSC were isolated by adherent culture in the medium contains 20%fetal bovine serum（FBS）,then they were maintained in the medium contain 10%FBS and induced to neural cells in neural differentiation medium.We investigated whether UC-MSC was able to differentiate into neural stem cell and neuron by using flow cytometry,reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction（RT-PCR）and immunofluorescence（IF）analyzes.·R ESULTS：A substantial number of UC-MSC was harvested using the tissue explants adherent method at about 2wk.Flow cytometric study revealed that these cells expressed common markers of MSCs,such as CD105（SH2）,CD73（SH3）and CD90.After induction of differentiation of neural stem cells,the cells began to form clusters;RT-PCR and IF showed that the neuron specific enolase（NSE）and neurogenic differentiation 1-positive cells reached 87.3%±14.7%and 72.6%±11.8%,respectively.Cells showed neuronal cell differentiation after induced,including neuron-like protrusions,plump cell body,obviously and stronger refraction.RT-PCR and IF analysis showed that microtubule-associated protein 2（MAP2）and nuclear factor-M-positive cells reached 43.1%±10.3%and 69.4%±19.5%,respectively.·CONCLUSION：Human umbilical cord derived MSCs can be cultured and proliferated and differentiate into neural stem cells,which may be a valuable source for cell therapy of neurodegenerative eye diseases.

Histone methyltransferases and demethylases:regulators in balancing osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cells （MSCs） are characterized by their self-renewing capacity and differentiation potential into multiple tissues. Thus, management of the differentiation capacities of MSCs is important for MSC-based regenerative medicine, such as craniofacial bone regeneration, and in new treatments for metabolic bone diseases, such as osteoporosis. In recent years, histone modification has been a growing topic in the field of MSC lineage specification, in which the Su（var）3-9, enhancer-of-zeste, trithorax （SET） domain-containing family and the Jumonji C （JmjC） domain-containing family represent the major histone lysine methyltransferases （KMTs） and histone lysine demethylases （KDMs）, respectively. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms by which SET domain-containine KMTs and JmiC domain-containinlz KDMs balance the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of MSCs.

Repair of peripheral nerve defects with chemically extracted acellular nerve allografts loaded with neurotrophic factors-transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Chemically extracted acellular nerve allografts loaded with brain-derived neurotrophic fac- tor-transfected or ciliary neurotrophic factor-transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells have been shown to repair sciatic nerve injury better than chemically extracted acellular nerve allografts alone, or chemically extracted acellular nerve allografts loaded with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. We hypothesized that these allografts compounded with both brain-derived neurotrophic factor- and ciliary neurotrophic factor-transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells may demonstrate even better effects in the repair of peripheral nerve injury. We cultured bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells expressing brain-derived neuro- trophic factor and/or ciliary neurotrophic factor and used them to treat sciatic nerve injury in rats. We observed an increase in sciatic functional index, triceps wet weight recovery rate, myelin thickness, number of myelinated nerve fibers, amplitude of motor-evoked potentials and nerve conduction velocity, and a shortened latency of motor-evoked potentials when al- lografts loaded with both neurotrophic factors were used, compared with allografts loaded with just one factor. Thus, the combination of both brain-derived neurotrophic factor and cili- ary neurotrophic factor-transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can greatly improve nerve injury.

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells increase dopamine synthesis in the injured striatum

Previous studies showed that tyrosine hydroxylase or neurturin gene-modified cells transplanted into rats with Parkinson＇s disease significantly improved behavior and increased striatal dopamine content. In the present study, we transplanted tyrosine hydroxylase and neurturin gene-modified bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells into the damaged striatum of Parkinson＇s disease model rats. Several weeks after cell transplantation, in addition to an improvement of motor function tyrosine hydroxylase and neurturin proteins were up-regulated in the injured striatum, and importantly, levels of dopamine and its metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid increased significantly. Furthermore, the density of the D2 dopamine receptor in the postsynaptic membranes of dopaminergic neurons was decreased. These results indicate that transplantation of tyrosine hydroxylase and neurturin gene-modified bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells increases dopamine synthesis and significantly improves the behavior of rats with Parkinson＇s disease.

Role of hypoxia preconditioning in therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem-cell-derived extracellular vesicles

The use of mesenchymal stem-cells(MSC)in cell therapy has received considerable attention because of their properties.These properties include high expansion and differentiation in vitro,low immunogenicity,and modulation of biological processes,such as inflammation,angiogenesis and hematopoiesis.Curiously,the regenerative effect of MSC is partly due to their paracrine activity.This has prompted numerous studies,to investigate the therapeutic potential of their secretome in general,and specifically their extracellular vesicles(EV).The latter contain proteins,lipids,nucleic acids,and other metabolites,which can cause physiological changes when released into recipient cells.Interestingly,contents of EV can be modulated by preconditioning MSC under different culture conditions.Among them,exposure to hypoxia stands out;these cells respond by activating hypoxia-inducible factor(HIF)at low O_(2) concentrations.HIF has direct and indirect pleiotropic effects,modulating expression of hundreds of genes involved in processes such as inflammation,migration,proliferation,differentiation,angiogenesis,metabolism,and cell apoptosis.Expression of these genes is reflected in the contents of secreted EV.Interestingly,numerous studies show that MSC-derived EV conditioned under hypoxia have a higher regenerative capacity than those obtained under normoxia.In this review,we show the implications of hypoxia responses in relation to tissue regeneration.In addition,hypoxia preconditioning of MSC is being evaluated as a very attractive strategy for isolation of EV,with a high potential for clinical use in regenerative medicine that can be applied to different pathologies.

Differentiation of human olfactory mucosa mesenchymal stem cells into photoreceptor cells in vitro

AIM：To investigate whether the human olfactory mucosa mesenchymal stem cells（OM-MSCs）can differentiate into photoreceptor cells in vitro.METHODS：Through the olfactory mucosa adherent method,olfactory mucosa was isolated,cultured and identified in vitro among mesenchymal stem cells.The cell surface markers were analyzed by flow cytometry,induced to differentiate into retinal photoreceptor cells in vitro,and the expression of rhodopsin was observed and identified by Immunofluorescence and Western blot methods.RESULTS：OM-MSCs from human were spindle cellbased,and showing radial colony arrangement.OM-MSCs were negative for CD34,CD45 and CD105,but positive for CD73 and CD90.Following induction,a strong positive reaction was produced by photoreceptor specific marker rhodopsin in the cells.CONSLUSION：This novel finding demonstrates that OM-MSCs can be cultured and expanded in vitro.They possess biological characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells,and have the ability to be induced into retinal cells.

Stem cell transplantation for treating Parkinson's disease Literature analysis based on the Web of Science

OBJECTIVE： To identify global research trends of stem cell transplantation for treating Parkinson＇s disease using a bibliometric analysis of the Web of Science. DATA RETRIEVAL： We performed a bibliometric analysis of data retrievals for stem cell transplantation for treating Parkinson＇s disease from 2002 to 2011 using the Web of Science. SELECTION CRITERIA： Inclusion criteria： （a） peer-reviewed articles on stem cell transplantation for treating Parkinson＇s disease which were published and indexed in the Web of Science; （b） type of articles： original research articles, reviews, meeting abstracts, proceedings papers, book chapters, editorial material and news items; （c） year of publication： 2002-2011. Exclusion criteria： （a） articles that required manual searching or telephone access; （b） we excluded documents that were not published in the public domain; （c） we excluded a number of corrected papers from the total number of articles. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： （1） Type of literature; （2） annual publication output; （3） distribution according to journals; （4） distribution according to subject areas; （5） distribution according to country; （6） distribution according to institution; （7） comparison of countries that published the most papers on stem cell transplantation from different cell sources for treating Parkinson＇s disease; （8） comparison of institutions that published the most papers on stem cell transplantation from different cell sources for treating Parkinson＇s disease in the Web of Science from 2002 to 2011; （9） comparison of studies on stem cell transplantation from different cell sources for treating Parkinson＇s disease RESULTS： In total, 1 062 studies on stem cell transplantation for treating Parkinson＇s disease appeared in the Web of Science from 2002 to 2011, almost one third of which were from American authors and institutes. The number of studies on stem cell transplantation for treating Parkinson＇s disease had gradually increased over the past 10 years. Papers on stem cell transplantation for treating Parkinson＇s disease appeared in journals such as Stem Cells and Experimental Neurology. Although the United States published more articles addressing neural stem cell and embryonic stem cell transplantation for treating Parkinson＇s disease, China ranked first for articles published on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for treating Parkinson＇s disease. CONCLUSION： From our analysis of the literature and research trends, we found that stem cell transplantation for treating Parkinson＇s disease may offer further benefits in regenerative medicine.