Expression of neurotrophic factors in human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells

Abstract

Objective To observe the profile of neurotrophic factors in human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hUC-MSCs) with Raybio antibody chip system,and provide a new cell seed source for spine cord injury or peripheral nerve regeneration. Mcthods The hUC-MSCs were cultured by tissue culture. Characteristics of cell phenotype were confirmed by flow cytometry.Raybio human cytokine antibody array and RT-PCR were employed to detect the neurotropic factors in hUC-MSCs. ELISA was used to determine the contents of growth factors (brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF],glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor [GDNF],hepatocyte growth factor [HGF],neurotrophin-3 [NT-3]) secreted by hUC-MSCs. Results The hUC-MSCs showed positive results for CD29 (94.05％),CD44 (90.75％) and CD90 (98.12％),and negative results for CD34 (3.09％) and CD45 (0.80％).Array results showed that hUC-MSCs expressed BDNF,epidermal growth factor (EGF),GDNF,HGF and NT-3,vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF),insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and NT-4.The gene expressions ofIGF-1,VEGF,nerve growth factor (NGF),HGF,GDNF,NT-4,BDNF and NT-3 were further verified by RT-PCR.ELISA results showed that the contents of BDNF,GDNF,HGF and NT-3 in the conditioned medium were (475.20±32.22) pg/mL,(82.33±3.39) pg/mL,(704.50±12.86)pg/mL,and (230.41 ±16.66) pg/mL,respectively.These were obviously higher than that in the control group. Conclusion The hUC-MSCs,containing plenty of growth factors,especially neurotrophic factors,may be promising seed cells for spine cord injury and nerve regeneration. Key words: Umbilical cord; Mesenchymal stromal cell; Neurotrophic factor