Systemic transplantation of human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells-educated T regulatory cells improved the impaired cognition in AβPPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic mice

PLoS One. 2013 Jul 25;8(7):e69129. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069129. Print 2013.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of most prevalent dementias, which is characterized by the deposition of extracellular amyloid-beta protein (Aβ) and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles within neurons. Although stereotaxic transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into the hippocampus of AD animal model as immunomodulatory cells has been suggested as a potential therapeutic approach to prevent the progress of AD, it is invasive and difficult for clinical perform. Systemic and central nervous system inflammation play an important role in pathogenesis of AD. T regulatory cells (Tregs) play a crucial role in maintaining systemic immune homeostasis, indicating that transplantation of Tregs could prevent the progress of the inflammation. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether systemic transplantation of purified autologous Tregs from spleens of AβPPswe/PS1dE9 double-transgenic mice after MSCs from human umbilical cords (UC-MSCs) education in vitro for 3 days could improve the neuropathology and cognition deficits in AβPPswe/PS1dE9 double-transgenic mice. We observed that systemic transplantation of autologous Tregs significantly ameliorate the impaired cognition and reduced the Aβ plaque deposition and the levels of soluble Aβ, accompanied with significantly decreased levels of activated microglia and systemic inflammatory factors. In conclusion, systemic transplantation of autologous Tregs may be an effective and safe intervention to prevent the progress of AD.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease / metabolism
  • Alzheimer Disease / physiopathology*
  • Alzheimer Disease / psychology
  • Alzheimer Disease / therapy*
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology
  • Cell Communication
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Coculture Techniques
  • Cognition / physiology
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fetal Blood / cytology*
  • Fetal Blood / physiology
  • Humans
  • Injections, Intramuscular
  • Male
  • Maze Learning / physiology
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / physiology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Myocardium
  • Spleen / cytology*
  • Spleen / physiology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / cytology*
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / physiology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / transplantation*

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides

Grants and funding

This research is supported by Shandong Province Natural Science Foundation (ZR2010HQ058) http://www.sdnsf.gov.cn/portal and Jinan Science and Technology Development Foundation (200906182-2) www.jnsti.gov.cn. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.