Abstract
IntroductionInduced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have emerged as a promising cell source for immune-compatible cell therapy. Although a variety of somatic cells have been tried for iPSC generation, it is still of great interest to test new cell types, especially those which are hardly obtainable in a normal situation.MethodsIn this study, we generated iPSCs by using the cells originated from intervertebral disc which were removed during a spinal operation after spinal cord injury. We investigated the pluripotency of disc cell-derived iPSCs (diPSCs) and neural differentiation capability as well as therapeutic effect in spinal cord injury.ResultsThe diPSCs displayed similar characteristics to human embryonic stem cells and were efficiently differentiated into neural precursor cells (NPCs) with the capability of differentiation into mature neurons in vitro.When the diPSC-derived NPCs were transplanted into mice 9 days after spinal cord injury, we detected a significant amelioration of hindlimb dysfunction during follow-up recovery periods. Histological analysis at 5 weeks after transplantation identified undifferentiated human NPCs (Nestin+) as well as early (Tuj1+) and mature (MAP2+) neurons derived from the transplanted NPCs. Furthermore, NPC transplantation demonstrated a preventive effect on spinal cord degeneration resulting from the secondary injury.ConclusionThis study revealed that intervertebral discs removed during surgery for spinal stabilization after spinal cord injury, previously considered a “waste” tissue, may provide a unique opportunity to study iPSCs derived from difficult-to-access somatic cells and a useful therapeutic resource for autologous cell replacement therapy in spinal cord injury.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-015-0118-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Induced pluripotent stem cells have emerged as a promising cell source for immune-compatible cell therapy
Isolation of disc cells for induced pluripotent stem cell generation from a patient with spinal cord injury In this study, we examined whether Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) could be generated from typically discarded disc cells isolated from surgically removed human intervertebral discs and whether Neural precursor cell (NPC) differentiated from the derived induced pluripotent stem cell (diPSC) reversed the locomotor dysfunction of an animal SCI model (Fig. 1a)
A DNA fingerprinting analysis confirmed that the diPSCs were derived from the original disc cells that were used for the iPSC generation (Additional file 3)
Summary
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have emerged as a promising cell source for immune-compatible cell therapy. A variety of somatic cells have been tried for iPSC generation, it is still of great interest to test new cell types, especially those which are hardly obtainable in a normal situation. The advent of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) opened a new avenue for immune-compatible cell replacement therapy as well as in vitro disease modeling, drug discovery, and toxicity testing [1,2,3,4]. The tissues and cell types obtained in this case are difficult to achieve with a normal biopsy, providing a unique opportunity for evaluating these cell types as a source for iPSC generation.
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