Survival, migration and differentiation of allogenic BMSCs in injured spinal cord in rats

Objective To observe survival, migration and differentiation of marrow derived mes-enehymal stem cells (BMSCs) after transplantation into the injured spinal cord in rats. Methods Allo-genie BMSCs stained with Hoechst were transplanted into the spinal cord that had been semi-transected in rats. Two months later, the animals were killed to observe the survival, migration and differentiation of the BMSCs.Results Two months after transplantation, a dense mass of the transplanted Hoechst stained BMSCs was observed surrounding the injection spot and transferred into the center of injury site. lees than 10% of the transplanted BMSCs expressed the mark proteins of neurons and astroeytes. Conclusion Allogenic BMSCs can well survive, proliferate and transfer in the injured spinal cord in rats and a few of them can differentiate into neural-like cells. Key words: Bone marrow cells;  Spinal cord injury;  Transplantaion;  Survival;  Differenti-ation