Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the roles of the co-culture of human umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) with rat pancreatic cells in the treatment of rats with diabetes mellitus. hUC-MSCs were isolated and passaged, followed by Transwell co-culture with rat pancreatic cells. The induced islet-like cell clusters were transplanted into the renal capsule in rats with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mellitus. The effects of co-culture on blood glucose levels in rats were observed. The isolated hUC-MSCs expressed the specific surface markers, including cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44) (91.4%), CD29 (91.3%) and CD105 (99.2%). Following co-culture with hUC-MSCs for 7 and 10 days, the rat pancreatic cells were strongly stained by pancreatic and duodenal homeobox-1 and human insulin. The insulin and C-peptide concentrations were increased significantly compared to the pure culture group. One week following the transplantation of induced islet-like cells into the renal capsule, the blood glucose level of rats in the STZ experimental group was significantly lower than that of the STZ control group. There were notable 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine-positive nuclei and insulin-positive cytoplasm in the renal capsule following cell transplantation. Therefore, co-culture of hUC-MSCs with rat pancreatic cells can lower the blood glucose levels in rats with diabetes mellitus.
Highlights
Replacement therapy with stem cells has become a novel method for the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM)
The immunohistochemistry of the normal rat kidney showed that the insulin and BrdU staining of the renal capsule were negative (Fig. 5E)
Following transplantation with induced islet‐like cells, the hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining of the renal cells showed that there were a large number of survived cells between renal capsule and the renal cortex, with fracture of renal capsule (Fig. 5F)
Summary
Replacement therapy with stem cells has become a novel method for the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The common stem cell transplantation methods include orthotopic transplantation [12], renal subcapsular transplantation [13], subcutaneous transplantation [14], intravenous transplantation [15], transplantation in the portal vein [16] and transplantation in the testes [17] These methods will encounter a number of difficulties when applied in clinical practice. If the stem cells are injected though the dorsal pancreatic artery, they may be induced to differentiate into cells with an insulin secretion function under the pancreas microenvironment. This has attracted increasing clinical attention, and has provided a combining site of basic research and clinical application
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