Are bone marrow stromal cells better candidates than bone marrow mononuclear cells to foster remyelination in the peripheral nervous system?

LAVALLE L; USACH V; SETTON-AVRUJ, CP

Huerta Grande, Córdoba, Argentina.

Congreso; XXVIII Congreso Anual Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias (SAN); 2013

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Neurociencias

Are bone marrow stromal cells better candidates than bone marrow mononuclear cells to foster remyelination in the peripheral nervous system? Lucia Lavalle, Vanina Usach, Patricia Setton-Avruj We have previously demonstrated the migration of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMCs) to the injured nerve both in an irreversible and a reversible model of Wallerian degeneration (Setton et al., 2007; Usach et al., 2011). In the reversible model, once the cells arrive at the ipsilateral nerve, BMMCs colocalize with Schwann cell (S100β and MBP) and nerve fiber markers (PGP 9.5). Also, BMMCs are capable of accelerating nerve degeneration to foster the regeneration process. BMMCs include a subpopulation of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs), which exhibit stem cell characteristics. In this context, the aim of this work was to compare the participation of these cell groups in the sciatic nerve remyelination. BMSCs were obtained from adult Wistar rat tibia and femur and maintained in culture until reaching confluence at passage 2. The cells were then transplanted to adult Wistar rats submitted to sciatic nerve crush. BMSCs seemed to be more efficiently recruited than BMMCs, since more cells were found in the ipsilateral nerve even when a smaller number of cells was transplanted. Five days after sciatic nerve crush, BMSCs also colocalized with Schwann cell and nerve fiber markers. BMSCs seemed to reduce the number of MBP clusters at 7 and 10 days post injury, suggesting an improvement in the regeneration process. However, more experiments will be necessary to confirm the advantages of BMSC in the treatment of sciatic nerve injuries.