Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells versus adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells for peripheral nerve regeneration

Marcela Fernandes; Sandra Gomes Valente; Rodrigo Guerra Sabongi; João Baptista Gomes Dos Santos; Vilnei Mattioli Leite; Henning Ulrich; Arthur Andrade Nery; Maria José da Silva Fernandes

doi:10.4103/1673-5374.224378

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells versus adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells for peripheral nerve regeneration

Neural Regen Res. 2018 Jan;13(1):100-104. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.224378.

Authors

Marcela Fernandes¹, Sandra Gomes Valente¹, Rodrigo Guerra Sabongi¹, João Baptista Gomes Dos Santos¹, Vilnei Mattioli Leite¹, Henning Ulrich², Arthur Andrade Nery², Maria José da Silva Fernandes³

Affiliations

¹ Division of Hand and Upper Limb Surgery, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
² Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
³ Division of Neurosciences, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Abstract

Studies have confirmed that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be used for treatment of several nervous system diseases. However, isolation of bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMSCs) is an invasive and painful process and the yield is very low. Therefore, there is a need to search for other alterative stem cell sources. Adipose-derived MSCs (ADSCs) have phenotypic and gene expression profiles similar to those of BMSCs. The production of ADSCs is greater than that of BMSCs, and ADSCs proliferate faster than BMSCs. To compare the effects of venous grafts containing BMSCs or ADSCs on sciatic nerve injury, in this study, rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham (only sciatic nerve exposed), Matrigel (MG; sciatic nerve injury + intravenous transplantation of MG vehicle), ADSCs (sciatic nerve injury + intravenous MG containing ADSCs), and BMSCs (sciatic nerve injury + intravenous MG containing BMSCs) groups. Sciatic functional index was calculated to evaluate the function of injured sciatic nerve. Morphologic characteristics of nerves distal to the lesion were observed by toluidine blue staining. Spinal motor neurons labeled with Fluoro-Gold were quantitatively assessed. Compared with sham-operated rats, sciatic functional index was lower, the density of small-diameter fibers was significantly increased, and the number of motor neurons significantly decreased in rats with sciatic nerve injury. Neither ADSCs nor BMSCs significantly improved the sciatic nerve function of rats with sciatic nerve injury, increased fiber density, fiber diameters, axonal diameters, myelin sheath thickness, and G ratios (axonal diameter/fiber diameter ratios) in the sciatic nerve distal to the lesion site. There was no significant difference in the number of spinal motor neurons among ADSCs, BMSCs and MG groups. These results suggest that neither BMSCs nor ADSCs provide satisfactory results for peripheral nerve repair when using MG as the conductor for engraftment.

Keywords: Matrigel; adipose-derived mesenchmal stem cells; mesenchymal stem cells; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; sciatic functional index; sciatic nerve.