Mesenchymal properties of SJL mice-stem cells and their efficacy as autologous therapy in a relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis model

INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a multipotent population of adult stem cells, which may represent a promising therapeutic approach for neurological autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. The mouse is the most used species for obtaining and studying the characteristics of MSC and their potential as autologous transplants in pre-clinical models. However, conflicting data have been published disclosing intraspecies variations. The choice of the mouse strain and the tissue source appear, among others, as important factors in the experimental application of MSCs. METHODS: Adipose tissue-derived MSCs obtained from the SJL/JCrl mouse strain (SJL-AdMSC) have been cultured for a long time (from passage 0 up to 15) under controlled experimental conditions, and their growth rate, morphology, stromal and haematopoietic marker expression profiles and differentiation capacity towards adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes have been determined. Moreover, their preclinical efficacy has been assessed by autologous transplant in relapsing-remitting experimental autoimmune encephalomielitis (RR-EAE)-induced SJL mice (a well established mice model for the study of RR-multiple sclerosis). RESULTS: We demonstrate that SJL-AdMSCs show the same fibroblastic shape, growth rate, profile of markers expression and multipotency described for MSCs in every passage evaluated (up to passage 15). Additionally, SJL-AdMSCs ameliorate the RR-EAE course, suggesting that they could modulate disease progression. Moreover, their features studied are fully comparable with the standardized Ad-MSCs obtained from the C57BL/6 mouse strain, which strengthens their use in cell therapy. CONCLUSION: SJL-AdMSCs might be a suitable source of Ad-MSCs for studies related to the properties of MSCs and their application as promising therapeutic tools in autologous transplants in experimental medicine.