Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation offers new therapeutic avenue for neurological diseases, however limitted survival of exogenous cells in the host brain is a major setback. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of using biodegradable scaffolds or Wharton jelly implants contained MSC after their transplantation into rat brain.Materials and methods: Adult Wistar rats were transplanted with MSC derived from human umbilical cord (hUC-MSC) (i), hUC-MSC localized inside biodegradable gelatin/laminin scaffolds (hUC-MSC/GL) (ii) or Wharton jelly implants (hUC-MSC/WJ) (iii). Results: hUC-MSC cultured in vitro expressed CD73, CD90, CD166 and Oct3/4, Nanog1, Nestin markers. 7 days after hUC-MSC transplantation only few viable donor cells were observed in the rat brain surrounded by heavy infiltration of macrophages/microglia (ED1+) and activating astrocytes (GFAP+). Hence transplantation of hUC-MSC/GL resulted with better cell survival compared with hUCMSC grafted in suspension. There was no donor cell migration out of the scaffolds however hUC-MSC lodged inside G/L scaffolds attained early neural markers. The inflammatory cell influx observed around the scaffolds was less intense with few ED1+ cells present in the core of scaffold. Similarly, all transplanted hUC-MSC/WJ remained in 3D tissue implants. Some of these cells adopted NF200, A2B5 or GFAP phenotypes during 7 days of observation. Concomitantly only scarce infiltration of immunoreactive cells was seen. Conclusions: Transplantation of hUC-MSC in 3D G/L scaffolds or hUC-MSC/WJ implants into adult rat brain improves survival of donor cells and induces their spontaneous transition into cell of neural lineage. It seems that 3D structures protect cells localized inside them from the host immune cells and may allow the diffusion of nutrients and other factors to propagate cell survival and differentiation into neuronal lineage. Supported by MSHE grant no N401 014235 and Fondation Jerome Lejeune grant.
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