The potential use of bone marrow stromal cells for cochlear cell therapy

• Published in: Neuroreport Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. 351 - 354
• Main Authors: Sharif, Sadia, Nakagawa, Takayuki, Ohno, Tsunehisa, Matsumoto, Masahiro, Kita, Tomoko, Riazuddin, Sheikh, Ito, Juichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc 05-03-2007; Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
• Subjects: Animals; Antigens, CD34 - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Bone Marrow Cells - physiology; Bone Marrow Transplantation - methods; Cochlea - surgery; Connexin 26; Connexins - metabolism; Ear and associated structures. Auditory pathways and centers. Hearing. Vocal organ. Phonation. Sound production. Echolocation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Green Fluorescent Proteins - metabolism; Intermediate Filament Proteins - metabolism; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Nerve Tissue Proteins - metabolism; Nestin; Stromal Cells - transplantation; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Rodentia; Transplantation; Inner ear; Organ of hearing; bone-marrow stromal cell; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Treatment; Mouse; Animal; cell therapy; Cochlea; Bone marrow; migration; Stromal cell
• ISSN: 0959-4965; 1473-558X
• DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e3280287a9a

This study investigated the potential of bone-marrow stromal cell transplantation for cell replacement therapy in the cochlea. Bone-marrow stromal cells labeled with enhanced green fluorescent protein were injected into the perilymphatic space of normal cochleae in mice. Histological analysis 2 weeks after transplantation demonstrated that transplanted cells settled within the cochlear tissues, especially in the spiral ligament and the spiral limbus, although most transplants were located in the perilymphatic space. Some of the transplanted cells expressed the cochlear gap-junction protein connexin 26. These findings indicate the potential of bone-marrow stromal cells for delivering therapeutic molecules and for the restoration of cochlear cells, particularly in the spiral ligament and the spiral limbus.