Genetic modification of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells with human CXCR4 gene and migration in vitro / 生物医学工程学杂志

ABSTRACT

This study was amied to construct CXCR4 gene modified bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and investigate the effect of CXCR4 expression on MSCs migration. The retrovirus vector pMSCV-CXCR4-IRES-GFP that expresses human CXCR4 gene was cloned,the MSCs were transduced by the virus, and the expression of OXCR4 was analyzed by FACS, RT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. The migration assay was performed using Transwell method in the presence of SDF-1. FACS results showed that 46% of the transduced MSCs were CXCR4 positive, and 57% were GFP positive. The expression of CXCR4 in MSCs was also confirmed by RT-PCR and immunostaining. The migration of MSCs was induced by SDF-1 and was strongly dependent on CXCR4 expression. The concentration of SDF-1 had effect on the migration and the transmigration rate of CXCR4 modified; the amount of MSCs was 5-fold higher than that of untransduced MSCs when the optimal concentration rose to 50 ng/ml. These data indicate that SDF-1/CXCR4 plays an important role in MSCs migration ,and the CXCR4 genetic modification approach could be applied to enhance cell homing, and engraftment in MSCs therapy.