BACKGROUND: Aplastic anemia (AA) is characterized by pancytopenia and bone marrow (BM) hypoplasia. In most cases, AA is an immune-mediated disease, with active destruction of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells by T lymphocytes. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) can support hematopoietic cells and have immunomodulatory effects.
OBJECTIVE: To observe the homing of BMSCs transferred into mouse model of bone marrow failure.
METHODS: BALB/C mice were randomly divided into normal control group, AA group and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation group. On day 6, chloromethyl-benzamidodialkylcarbocyanine (CM-Dil)-labeled BALB/c mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were transplanted into mouse model of bone marrow failure via tail vein. The dynamic distribution of CM-Dil-labeled cells in different tissues was observed by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscope. On day 14 after bone marrow failure induction, the average survival time, peripheral blood hemogram and the morphological features of bone marrow of mice in each group were determined.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At 24 hours after BMSC transplantation via tail vein, CM-Dil-labeled positive cells were observed in recipients’ bone marrow, and the CM-Dil-labeled positive cells increased at 72 hours (P < 0.05). The white blood cells, hemoglobin, platelets and bone marrow mononuclear cells of the dying or executed mice in the transplantation group were significantly higher than those in the aplastic anemia group (P < 0.01). The average survival time of mice in aplastic anemia group was significantly shorter than that in the BMSC transplantation group (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that the transplanted BMSCs can home into the bone marrow of bone marrow failure model, promote the recovery of hematopoietic function, alleviate the degree of bone marrow failure, and significantly prolong survival time.