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Co-transplantation of bone marrow stromal cells transduced with IL-7 gene enhances immune reconstitution after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in mice

Gene Therapy volume 13, pages 1178–1187 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) is followed by a period of profound immune deficiency, which results in significant susceptibility to infections and limits the extensive application of this approach in clinic. Here, we transduced human interleukin-7 (IL-7) gene into donor-derived bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) using adenovirus vector, and transplanted this gene-engineered MSCs (MSC-IL-7) into lethally irradiated C57BL/6 mice to investigate their effects on immune reconstitution following allo-BMT. Recipient mice receiving MSC-IL-7 cells plus T-cell-depleted bone marrow cells of BALB/c mice showed a significant increase in thymopoiesis and homeostatic expansion of peripheral T lymphocytes. Furthermore, injection of MSC-IL-7 cells following allo-BMT protected the host from the lethality caused by acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and prevented the occurrence of GVHD induced by transplanted T cells. Thus, the use of MSC-IL-7 cells may be therapeutically useful for enhancing immune reconstitution without aggravating GVHD in allo-BMT mice.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant (30170895) from the National Science Foundation of China. We thank Drs Qihang Li and Tong-chuan He for their gifts. We also thank Dr Jieliang Wang and Dr Lin Liu for their expert technical assistances.

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Author notes

  1. Q Zhang

    Present address: Bone Marrow Transplantation Section, Transplantation Biology Research Center, Surgical Service, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harward Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

  2. J Jiang

    Present address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, A-5301 Medical Center North, Nashville, TN, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Immunology, Peking University Health Center, Beijing, People's Republic of China

    A Li, Q Zhang, J Jiang, G Yuan, Y Feng, J Hao, C Li, X Gao, X Gao, G Wang & S Xie

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Correspondence to S Xie.

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Li, A., Zhang, Q., Jiang, J. et al. Co-transplantation of bone marrow stromal cells transduced with IL-7 gene enhances immune reconstitution after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in mice. Gene Ther 13, 1178–1187 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3302741

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