Treatment and transfer of emphysema by a new bone marrow transplantation method from normal mice to Tsk mice and vice versa.

We have recently established a new bone marrow transplantation (BMT) method in which bone marrow cells are injected into the intrabone marrow (IBM). In the present study, we used an animal model for emphysema (tight-skin [Tsk] mouse) to examine whether IBM-BMT could be used to treat emphysema in Tsk mice. IBM-BMT was carried out from C3H mice into Tsk mice (8–10 weeks old) that had already shown emphysema. Six months after transplantation, the lungs of all the Tsk mice treated with IBM-BMT [C3HTsk] showed similar structures to those of normal mice, whereas the [TskTsk] mice showed emphysema, as seen in age-matched Tsk mice. Next, we attempted to transfer emphysema from Tsk mice to C3H mice by IBM-BMT. Six months after IBM-BMT, the [TskC3H] mice showed emphysema. These results strongly suggest that emphysema in Tsk mice originates from defects of stem cells in the bone marrow.