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Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their progenies are important supporting cells in the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment. However, the function and kinetics of MSCs post-hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) remain unknown. In the present study, MSCs were cultured from a total of 76 BM samples from 15 patients receiving HSCT. Colony-forming unit fibroblasts in BM before pre-conditioning and 1, 3, 6 and 9 months post-HSCT were cultured and counted to quantify MSCs. Hematopoiesis-supporting activity of MSCs was observed with long-term culture of hematopoietic progenitors. An inhibitory effect of MSCs on in vitro lymphocyte proliferation was also observed. Results showed that post-HSCT MSCs supported in vitro hematopoiesis and inhibited lymphocyte growth. Moreover, the quantity of MSCs was reduced at an early stage and restored to baseline level 9 months post-transplant. The results indicate that functional MSCs remain present in the BM microenvironment, and these findings shed light on the understanding of BM microenvironment reconstitution post-HSCT.
Potential conflict of interest
Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at www.informahealthcare.com/lal.
This work was supported by National Natural Sciences Grants (No. 30871018, No. 30971068, to Z.-K.G.; No. 81170522, to H.-X.W.; No. 81101342, No. 81371945 to H.Z.); a National “863” Grant (No. 2011AA020101, to Z.-K.G.); a Beijing Natural Sciences Grant (No. 7132133, to H.Z.); and a Project of Technology Plan of Guangdong (No. 2010B031600019, to Z.-K.G.).