Shiverer-immunodeficient (Shi-id) mice demonstrate defective myelination in the central nervous system (CNS) and significant ataxia by 2 to 3 weeks of life. Expanded, banked human neural stem cells (HuCNS-SCs) were transplanted into three sites in the brains of neonatal or juvenile Shi-id mice, which were asymptomatic or showed advanced hypomyelination, respectively. In both groups of mice, HuCNS-SCs engrafted and underwent preferential differentiation into oligodendrocytes. These oligodendrocytes generated compact myelin with normalized nodal organization, ultrastructure, and axon conduction velocities. Myelination was equivalent in neonatal and juvenile mice by quantitative histopathology and high-field ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging, which, through fractional anisotropy, revealed CNS myelination 5 to 7 weeks after HuCNS-SC transplantation. Transplanted HuCNS-SCs generated functional myelin in the CNS, even in animals with severe symptomatic hypomyelination, suggesting that this strategy may be useful for treating dysmyelinating diseases.

Editor's Summary neural stem cell transplantation in PMD and other dysmyelination disorders. transplantation region in three of the four patients. These results support further study of potential clinical benefits of derived myelination in the − were used to assess myelination. The imaging results were consistent with donor cell tolerated. Magnetic resonance imaging techniques, performed before transplant and five times in the following year, Human neural stem cells were transplanted directly into the brain; the procedure and transplantation were well Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), a rare X-linked condition in which oligodendrocytes cannot myelinate axons.. then tested the safety and efficacy of such cells in four young boys with a severe, fatal form of et al Gupta which ensheathed axons and improved nerve conduction in both categories of mice. In an open-label phase 1 study, dysmyelination. These transplanted cells preferentially differentiated into oligodendrocytes that generated myelin, newborn mice were asymptomatic, the juvenile mice were already symptomatic and displayed advanced mice. Whereas the Shi stem cells, which had been expanded and banked, into the brains of newborn and juvenile. transplanted human neural et al) mice, a hypomyelination model, could prolong survival. In the new work, Uchida Shi (shiverer disorders. Previous work showed that transplantation of human oligodendrocyte progenitors into newborn as a potential treatment for such −− which can differentiate into myelin-producing oligodendrocytes −− stem cells. now investigate the use of neural et al. and Gupta et al nervous system cause severe neurological decline. Uchida the rapid transmission of nerve impulses and in axon integrity, mutations that affect myelin formation in the central can have destructive effects. Because of myelin's crucial roles in promoting −− the myelin sheath −− around nerve fibers Faulty insulation around household wiring is an electric shock and fire hazard; likewise, defects in the insulation Bringing Insulation Up to Code

Infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (INCL) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by a deficiency in the lysosomal enzyme palmitoyl protein thioesterase-1 (PPT1). Ppt1 knockout mice display hallmarks of INCL and mimic the human pathology: accumulation of lipofuscin, degeneration of CNS neurons, and a shortened life span. Purified non-genetically modified human CNS stem cells, grown as neurospheres (hCNS-SCns), were transplanted into the brains of immunodeficient Ppt1(-/)(-) mice where they engrafted robustly, migrated extensively, and produced sufficient levels of PPT1 to alter host neuropathology. Grafted mice displayed reduced autofluorescent lipofuscin, significant neuroprotection of host hippocampal and cortical neurons, and delayed loss of motor coordination. Early intervention with cellular transplants of hCNS-SCns into the brains of INCL patients may supply a continuous and long-lasting source of the missing PPT1 and provide some therapeutic benefit through protection of endogenous neurons. These data provide the experimental basis for human clinical trials with these banked hCNS-SCns.

Liver progenitor cells, characterized by the coexpression of biliary and hepatocyte lineage markers and the ability to form colonies in culture, were isolated by flow cytometry from primary human fetal livers. These prospectively isolated liver progenitor cells supported hepatitis D virus infection, expressed, and produced albumin and alpha-fetoprotein, as tracked by albumin- and alpha-fetoprotein-driven lentiviral promoter reporter constructs and measured by ELISA, respectively. Coculture in three-dimensional (3D) fibrin gel with endothelial cells resulted in the formation of vascular structures by the endothelial cells and increased proliferation of liver progenitors. The enhanced proliferation of liver progenitors that was observed when liver progenitors and endothelial cells were cultured in direct contact was not achieved when liver progenitors and endothelial cells were cultured on adjacent but separate matrices and when they were cultured across transwell membranes. In conclusion, coculture of liver progenitors and endothelial cells in three-dimensional matrix resulted in enhanced liver progenitor proliferation and function. This coculture methodology offers a novel coculture system that could be applied for the development of engineered liver tissues.

Introduction: Hepatocyte cellular transplantation, a potential alternative to liver transplantation, has been successfully applied in animal models and in clinical studies as a “bridge” to transplantation. This approach is challenged by limited donor hepatocytes and by the inability to maintain the long-term survival and expansion of hepatocytes in vitro. We propose that the in vitro expansion and eventual therapeutic delivery of liver cells would be enhanced by co-culture with endothelial cells in active angiogenesis.

Direct isolation of human central nervous system stem cells (CNS-SC) based on cell surface markers yields a highly purified stem cell population that can extensively expand in vitro and exhibit multilineage differentiation potential both in vitro and in vivo. The CNS-SC were isolated from fetal brain tissue using the cell surface markers CD133(+), CD34(-), CD45(-), and CD24(-/lo) (CD133(+) cells). Fluorescence-activated cell sorted (FACS) CD133(+) cells continue to expand exponentially as neurospheres while retaining multipotential differentiation capacity for >10 passages. CD133(-), CD34(-), and CD45(-) sorted cells (approximately 95% of total fetal brain tissue) fail to initiate neurospheres. Neurosphere cells transplanted into neonatal immunodeficient NOD-SCID mice proliferated, migrated, and differentiated in a site-specific manner. However, it has been difficult to evaluate human cell engraftment, because many of the available monoclonal antibodies against neural cells (beta-tubulin III and glial fibrillary acidic protein) are not species specific. To trace the progeny of human cells after transplantation, CD133(+)-derived neurosphere cells were transduced with lentiviral vectors containing enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) expressed downstream of the phosphoglycerate kinase promoter. After transduction, GFP(+) cells were enriched by FACS, expanded, and transplanted into the lateral ventricular space of neonatal immunodeficient NOD-SCID brain. The progeny of transplanted cells were detected by either GFP fluorescence or antibody against GFP. GFP(+) cells were present in the subventricular zone-rostral migrating stream, olfactory bulb, and hippocampus as well as nonneurogenic sites, such as cerebellum, cerebral cortex, and striatum. Antibody against GFP revealed that some of the cells displayed differentiating dendrites and processes with neurons or glia cells. Thus, marking human CNS-SC with reporter genes introduced by lentiviral vectors is a useful tool with which to characterize migration and differentiation of human cells in this mouse transplantation model.