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Transplanted stem cells may help prevent bladder fibrosis after spinal injury
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Bladder fibrosis is a common malady after spinal cord injury, but researchers in Korea and Canada have found transplantation of B10 cells may help prevent its development and improve function by promoting smooth muscle cell growth in the bladder, according to a press release about recently published study data.
In the study, the researchers injected B10 cells — a line of stable, immortalized human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) — directly into the bladder wall of mice modeled with spinal cord injury at 4 weeks after the onset of injury. The researchers used fluorescent magnetic particle labels to track the B10 cells on MRI and assessed voiding function at 4 weeks post-transplantation.
“In this study, the spinal cord injury control group that did not receive B10 cells showed degenerated spinal neurons and did not recover,” study author, Seung U. Kim, MD, PhD, said in the press release. “The B10-injected group appeared to have regenerated bladder smooth muscle cells.”
The researchers found MRI results showed the fluorescent magnetic particle-labeled cells induced clear hypointense signal. They also concluded that local injection of B10 cells was preferred to systemic intravenous injection because systemic injection resulted in the localization of B10 hMSCs to the pulmonary capillary bed.
The full study will be published in a print issue of Cell Transplantation, according to the researchers.
Reference:
Lee HJ. Cell Transplant. 2014;doi:10.3727/096368914X682125.