Migration of bone marrow-derived very small embryonic-like stem cells toward an injured spinal cord

ABSTRACT

Objective: Bone marrow [BM] is one of the major hematopoietic organs in postnatal life that consists of a heterogeneous population of stem cells which have been previously described. Recently, a rare population of stem cells that are called very small embryonic-like [VSEL] stem cells has been found in the BM. These cells express several developmental markers of pluripotent stem cells and can be mobilized into peripheral blood [PB] in response to tissue injury. In this study we have attempted to investigate the ability of these cells to migrate toward an injured spinal cord after transplantation through the tail vein in a rat model