Busulfan as a Myelosuppressive Agent for Generating Stable High-level Bone Marrow Chimerism in Mice

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is often used to replace the bone marrow (BM) compartment of recipient mice with BM cells expressing a distinct biomarker isolated from donor mice. This technique allows for identification of donor-derived hematopoietic cells within the recipient mice, and can be used to isolate and characterize donor cells using various biochemical techniques. BMT typically relies on myeloablative conditioning with total body irradiation to generate niche space within the BM compartment of recipient mice for donor cell engraftment. The protocol we describe here uses myelosuppressive conditioning with the chemotherapeutic agent busulfan. Unlike irradiation, which requires the use of specialized facilities, busulfan conditioning is performed using intraperitoneal injections of 20 mg/kg busulfan until a total dose of 60-100 mg/kg has been administered. Moreover, myeloablative irradiation can have toxic side effects and requires successful engraftment of donor cells for survival of recipient mice. In contrast, busulfan conditioning using these doses is generally well tolerated and mice survive without donor cell support. Donor BM cells are isolated from the femurs and tibiae of mice ubiquitously expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP), and injected into the lateral tail vein of conditioned recipient mice. BM chimerism is estimated by quantifying the number of GFP+ cells within the peripheral blood following BMT. Levels of chimerism >80% are typically observed in the peripheral blood 3-4 weeks post-transplant and remain established for at least 1 year. As with irradiation, conditioning with busulfan and BMT allows for the accumulation of donor BM-derived cells within the central nervous system (CNS), particularly in mouse models of neurodegeneration. This busulfan-mediated CNS accumulation may be more physiological than total body irradiation, as the busulfan treatment is less toxic and CNS inflammation appears to be less extensive. We hypothesize that these cells can be genetically engineered to deliver therapeutics to the CNS.     

In Vivo 4-Dimensional Tracking of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells in Adult Mouse Calvarial Bone Marrow

Through a delicate balance between quiescence and proliferation, self renewal and production of differentiated progeny, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) maintain the turnover of all mature blood cell lineages. The coordination of the complex signals leading to specific HSC fates relies upon the interaction between HSCs and the intricate bone marrow microenvironment, which is still poorly understood^[1-2].We describe how by combining a newly developed specimen holder for stable animal positioning with multi-step confocal and two-photon in vivo imaging techniques, it is possible to obtain high-resolution 3D stacks containing HSPCs and their surrounding niches and to monitor them over time through multi-point time-lapse imaging. High definition imaging allows detecting ex vivo labeled hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) residing within the bone marrow. Moreover, multi-point time-lapse 3D imaging, obtained with faster acquisition settings, provides accurate information about HSPC movement and the reciprocal interactions between HSPCs and stroma cells.Tracking of HSPCs in relation to GFP positive osteoblastic cells is shown as an exemplary application of this method. This technique can be utilized to track any appropriately labeled hematopoietic or stromal cell of interest within the mouse calvarium bone marrow space.     

脾加骨髓细胞移植治疗小鼠大肠癌的实验研究

目的:探讨半相合脾加骨髓细胞移植治疗小鼠大肠癌的效果及其对嵌合体水平和移植物抗宿主病(GVHD)的影响。方法:以接种CT26大肠癌细胞的BALB/c×C57BL/6杂交Fl代雌性小鼠为受鼠,以健康雌性Fl、雄性C57BL/6、雄性C3H小鼠为MHC全相合、半相合、不相合供鼠,观察移植后的抑瘤情况;另设5只化疗联合半相合脾加骨髓细胞移植的小鼠为监测组,用来作嵌合体的分析,观察各组GVHD的情况。结果:经化疗预处理的脾加骨髓细胞移植组小鼠肿瘤明显缩小,与单纯化疗未进行移植组比较,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);化疗联合半相合脾加骨髓细胞移植的小鼠于移植3周后达完全供者植入,于移植后第10天左右出现纳差、倦怠、步态不稳、脱毛、腹泻、体重明显下降等GVHD的症状。结论:化疗预处理联合脾加骨髓细胞移植能对CT26大肠癌细胞产生GVT效应,并伴随着GVHD及嵌合率的变化。     

Restricted Hematopoietic Progenitors and Erythropoiesis Require SCF from Leptin Receptor+ Niche Cells in the Bone Marrow

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