Multiple intracerebroventricular injections of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells delay motor neurons loss but not disease progression of SOD1G93A mice

Publication date: December 2017 Source:Stem Cell Research, Volume 25 Author(s): Francesca Sironi, Antonio Vallarola, Martina Bruna Violatto, Laura Talamini, Mattia Freschi, Roberta De Gioia, Chiara Capelli, Azzurra Agostini, Davide Moscatelli, Massimo Tortarolo, Paolo Bigini, Martino Introna, Caterina Bendotti Stem cell therapy is considered a promising approach in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) seem to be the most effective in ALS animal models. The umbilical cord (UC) is a source of highly proliferating fetal MSCs, more easily collectable than other MSCs. Recently we demonstrated that human (h) UC-MSCs, double labeled with fluorescent nanoparticles and Hoechst-33258 and transplanted intracerebroventricularly (ICV) into SOD1G93A transgenic mice, partially migrated into the spinal cord after a single injection. This prompted us to assess the effect of repeated ICV injections of hUC-MSCs on disease progression in SOD1G93A mice. Although no transplanted cells migrated to the spinal cord, a partial but significant protection of motor neurons (MNs) was found in the lumbar spinal cord of hUC-MSCs-treated SOD1G93A mice, accompanied by a shift from a pro-inflammatory (IL-6, IL-1β) to anti-inflammatory (IL-4, IL-10) and neuroprotective (IGF-1) environment in the lumbar spinal cord, probably linked to the activation of p-Akt survival pathway in both motor neurons and reactive astrocytes. However, this treatment ne...
Source: Stem Cell Research - Category: Stem Cells Source Type: research