Human Cord Blood–Derived Cells Generate Insulin‐Producing Cells In Vivo

Abstract

Here we report the capacity of human cord blood (CB) -derived cells to generate insulin-producing cells. To investigate in vivo capacity of human CB-derived cells, T celldepleted mononuclear cells were intravenously transplanted into nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient/β 2 -microglobulin null mice within 48 hours of birth. At 1-2 months post-transplantation, immunofluorescence staining for insulin and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis using a human chromosome probe indicated that human CB-derived cells generated insulin-producing cells at a frequency of 0.65% ± 0.64% in xenogeneic hosts. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis confirmed the transcription of human insulin in the pancreatic tissue of the recipient mice. To clarify the mechanism underlying CBderived insulin-producing cells, double FISH analysis using species-specific probes was performed. Almost equal proportions of human chromosome + murine chromosome − insulin + cells and human chromosome + murine chromosome + insulin + cells were present in recipient pancreatic islets. Taken together, human CB contains progenitor cells, which can generate insulin-producing cells in recipient pancreatic tissues across a xenogeneic histocompatibility barrier by fusiondependent and -independent mechanisms. Stem Cells

Islet neogenesis from the constitutively nestin expressing human umbilical cord matrix derived mesenchymal stem cells

“…Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a fairly good source of pluripotent MSCs and HSCs with lineage specificity 2 and hence is rapidly gaining attention for its proposed therapeutic values. 3,4 The UCB derived MSCs also exhibit the potential to differentiate into the insulin producing beta cells [5][6][7][8] and hence can be used as an alternative for pancreatic progenitor cells. However the availability of cord blood will be limited in due course of time, as most of the cord blood would be cryopreserved for banking purposes; hence there is a dire need to look for an alternative source of stem cells.…”

Unique Features and Clinical Application Prospect of Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells

“…At present, hUC-MSCs appear to be a promising and safe cell source for transplantation due to their high potential for proliferation, multipotential differentiation and a low level of immunogenicity. According to the diabetic rats' models by Wang et al, hyperglycemia of the diabetic rats was corrected and the damage of pancreatic cells was partly repaired in the hUC-MSCs transplantation groups [29][30][31] .…”

Adult Stem Cells as a Renewable Source of Insulin-Producing Cells

“…Another study showed that the insulin-producing cells differentiated from UCB-derived MSCs with extracellular matrix gel secreted insulin but are not responsive to glucose (22). Furthermore, Yoshida et al proved the regenerative property and the differentiation of UCB-derived cells to insulin-producing cells (23). When they transplanted UCB stem cells into immune deficient NOD/scid mice by intravenous injection, they could detect human UCB-derived insulin-positive cells in the pancreas of the recipient.…”