Magnetically empowered bone marrow cells as a micro-living motor can improve early hematopoietic reconstitution

Abstract

Background aims: Bone marrow-derived hematopoietic stem cell transplantation/hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (HSCT/HPCT) is widely used and one of the most useful treatments in clinical practice. However, the homing rate of hematopoietic stem cells/hematopoietic progenitor cells (HSCs/HPCs) by routine cell transfusion is quite low, influencing hematopoietic reconstitution after HSCT/HPCT.

Methods: The authors developed a micro-living motor (MLM) strategy to increase the number of magnetically empowered bone marrow cells (ME-BMCs) homing to the bone marrow of recipient mice.

Results: In the in vitro study, migration and retention of ME-BMCs were greatly improved in comparison with non-magnetized bone marrow cells, and the biological characteristics of ME-BMCs were well maintained. Differentially expressed gene analysis indicated that ME-BMCs might function through gene regulation. In the in vivo study, faster hematopoietic reconstitution was observed in ME-BMC mice, which demonstrated a better survival rate and milder symptoms of acute graft-versus-host disease after transplantation of allogeneic ME-BMCs.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that ME-BMCs serving as MLMs facilitated the homing of HSCs/HPCs and eventually contributed to earlier hematopoietic reconstitution in recipients. These data might provide useful information for other kinds of cell therapies.

Keywords: cell homing; graft-versus-host disease; hematopoietic reconstitution; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; magnetically empowered bone marrow cells; micro-living motor.