Inner ear rehabilitation in the deafened cochlea of nod-scid mice following transplantation of human pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells

Objectives. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are currently being investigated in numerous pre-clinical and clinical settings of regenerative medicine. We had previously reported (Revoltella et al., Cell Transplant. 2008; 17, 665-678) that human umbilical cord blood CD133+ stem cells transplanted IV into pre-irradiated nod-scid mice made permanently deaf by ototoxic treatment with kanamycin or intense sound, were able to engraft the cochlea and contribute to inner ear restoration, in vivo. We further investigated here whether human adult MSC derived from either bone marrow or fat (lipid suction), if injected IV to deafened nod-scid mice pre-treated with kanamycin , were able to engraft the damaged cochlea regaining hearing. Materials, Methods & Results. We tested HLA-DQa1 DNA and three human microsatellites (CODIS) as indicators of engrafted cells, finding polymerase chain reaction evidence of chimaerism in various tissues of the host, including the Organ of Corti in the damaged cochlea, at 7, 31 and 60 days following MSC transplant. After 31 days, histology, immunohistochemistry, and lectin staining confirmed the repair process and stimulation ex novo of morphological recovery in the inner ear, contrasting with the lack of morphological repair in control similarly injured but non-transplanted mice. FISH analysis, to detect human genomic sequences from different chromosomes, confirmed persistent engraftment of the regenerating inner ear with a very limited number of chimaeric cells. Dual color FISH analysis provided evidence of a limited positive engraftment in the inner ear and in other mouse tissues, also revealing small numbers of possible heterokaryons, probably resulting from unstable clones derived from fusion of donor with endogenous cells, up to 2 months following transplantation. Stem cells and differentiation pathways focused PCR arrays favoured to select MSC inducing the best response. Conclusions. These findings support the concept that transplanted MSC migrating to the damaged inner ear area may provide conditions for the resumption of a damaged cochlea , emerging as a potential strategy for hearing rehabilitation.