Mesenchymal stem cell therapy for neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26860845
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Embryonic/Neonatal medicine
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Koda Tsubasa 神戸大学, 医学研究科, 医学研究員 (40622882)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): IWATANI Sota 神戸大学, 大学院医学研究科・内科系講座小児科学分野, 助教 (00741430) ; MORIOKA Ichiro 神戸大学, 大学院医学研究科・内科系講座こども急性疾患学, 特命教授 (80437467) ; NISHIMURA Noriyuki 神戸大学, 大学院医学研究科・内科系講座こども総合療育学, 特命教授 (00322719)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: mesenchymal stem cell / umbilical cord / gestational age / gene expression / encephalopathy / lung injury

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Treatments for neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy have been limited. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have significant potential for use in cell therapy for various diseases, through their ability to home to sites of injury, suppress immune responses, and undergo self-renewal and differentiation. The objective of this study is to characterize the gestational age-dependent change in MSCs from fetal tissues and to assess whether the MSCs could be useful for neonatal brain injury due to hypoxia or ischemia. First, we isolated umbilical cord-derived MSCs(UC-MSCs) from infants delivered at 22 to 40 weeks gestational age. UC-MSCs from preterm infants showed high proliferative capacity with increased levels of Wnt signaling pathway gene expression compared with those from term infants. Second, the lung injuries on rat model of bleomycin-induced hypoxemia and pulmonary fibrosis could be reduced by UC-MSCs, regardless of origin’s gestation.

Free Research Field

小児科学