Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells promote regeneration of crush-injured rat sciatic nerves

摘要

Several studies have demonstrated that human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells can promote neural regeneration following brain injury. However, the therapeutic effects of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells in guiding peripheral nerve regeneration remain poorly understood. This study was designed to investigate the effects of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells on neural regeneration using a rat sciatic nerve crush injury model. Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (1 Χ 10 6 ) or a PBS control were injected into the crush-injured segment of the sciatic nerve. Four weeks after cell injection, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and tyrosine kinase receptor B mRNA expression at the lesion site was increased in comparison to control. Furthermore, sciatic function index, Fluoro Gold-labeled neuron counts and axon density were also significantly increased when compared with control. Our results indicate that human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells promote the functional recovery of crush-injured sciatic nerves. Research Highlights Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells transplanted into sciatic nerve lesion sites following crush injury, migrated toward surrounding areas and promoted functional recovery of the sciatic nerve and axonal regeneration. After transplantation of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells into sciatic nerve lesion sites, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and tyrosine kinase receptor B mRNA expression increased in the sciatic nerve and dorsal root ganglions compared with control. Abbreviations BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; TrkB, tyrosine kinase receptor B; SFI, sciatic function index; DRG, dorsal root ganglion