Distribution of transplanted human mesenchymal stem cells from wharton’s jelly in the central nervous systems of the EAE rats

Abstract

Human Wharton’s Jelly MSCs (hWJ-MSCs) have a considerable advantage and potential in treating the central nervous system diseases and can be a new alternative treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Aim. To study the persistence and distribution of hWJ-MSCs along the neuraxis following transplantation in central nervous system of rats with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of MS. Methods. Isolation and cultivation of hWJ-MSCs in vitro. Immunological phenotyping by flow cytometry. EAE induction. Intrathecal (suboccipital) injection of MSCs into CNS of SCH-induced EAE rats. Persistence of hWJ-MSCs in the CNS of hWJ-MSCs-treated rats was detected through detection of the human alpha-satellite DNA in the tissue sections and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by PCR at days 2, 3, 4 and 5. Results. PCR-assays for alpha-satellite sequences revealed that human DNA was detected during 5 days following intrathecal injection at the peak of disease in the treated rats. It has been demonstrated that the human DNA was traced in CSF and various segments of a spinal cord. Conclusions. The data obtained suggest that intrathecally delivered hWJ-MSCs, with time, can migrate through the CSF from the injection site to various segments of CNS and persist therein during the first week of post transplantation, which was performed at the EAE disease peak in the xenogeneic setting without immunosuppression. hWJ-MSCs may be considered as a delivery cell source of therapeutic molecules for CNS inflammatory diseases.