Cell and Organ Transplantology. 2024; 12(1):52-58
DOI: 10.22494/cot.v12i1.165

Colony-forming potential of murine bone marrow-derived progenitor cells in experimental neurodegenerative pathology and under the impact of melatonin in vivo or in vitro

Labunets I.^1,2, Ustymenko A.^1,2, Panteleymonova T.^1,2, Rodnichenko A.¹

• ¹Institute of Genetic and Regenerative Medicine, M. D. Strazhesko National Scientific Center of Cardiology, Clinical and Regenerative Medicine, National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
• ²D. F. Chebotarev State Institute of Gerontology, National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

Abstract

Cell therapy is a promising direction in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease/parkinsonism and multiple sclerosis, the effectiveness of which can be increased with the help of biologically active factors, in particular melatonin.
The purpose of the study: to investigate the colony-forming ability of stromal and hematopoietic cells-progenitors of the bone marrow of mice with experimentally induced neurodegenerative pathology and reveal the possibility to change it under the influence of melatonin in vivo or in vitro.
Materials and methods: In adult (6-7 months) male FVB/N (haplotype H-2q) and 129/Sv (haplotype H-2b) mice, the parkinsonism model was reproduced by a single subcutaneous injection of the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) at a dose of 30 mg/kg. 129/Sv mice also received the neurotoxin cuprizone daily with food (at the rate of 0.2 % of the mass of the pure substance from the daily feed) for three weeks (multiple sclerosis model). Melatonin was administered to the 129/Sv mice intraperitoneally at a dose of 1 mg/kg, daily, at 17.00, from the 8^th day of receiving cuprizone, or was added in vitro to the culture of bone marrow cells of mice of both strains with parkinsonism at a dose of 0.1 μg/0.1 mL. In the bone marrow, the absolute number of nucleated cells was counted, the relative content of CD4+ lymphocytes was determined by flow cytometry, and the number of colony-forming precursor cells for fibroblasts (CFU-F) and for granulocyte-macrophages (CFU-GM) in culture in vitro was estimated.
Results. In the bone marrow of 129/Sv mice with a model of multiple sclerosis, the number of nucleated cells, CFU-GM and CD4⁺ cells decrease, while under the influence of exogenous melatonin applied in vivo, the values of these indicators increase to the level of intact animals. After the administration of MPTP in the bone marrow of FVB/N mice, in contrast to 129/Sv mice, the number of nucleated cells and CFU-F decreases. After the incubation with melatonin of bone marrow cells of 129/Sv mice with a model of parkinsonism, an increase in the amount of CFU-F was observed compared to control values, and there were no changes in the indicator values in FVB/N mice.
Conclusions. In the bone marrow of mice with the MPTP-model of parkinsonism, a decrease in the absolute amount of CFU-F was found, and in mice with the cuprizone model of multiple sclerosis – CFU-GM. The application of melatonin in vitro increases the colony-forming potential of progenitor cells for fibroblasts in the bone marrow of mice with the MPTP model of parkinsonism. The use of melatonin in vivo increases the colony-forming ability of progenitor cells for granulocyte-macrophages and the relative content of CD4⁺ cells in the bone marrow of mice with the cuprizone model of multiple sclerosis. Changes in the amount of CFU-F in the bone marrow in parkinsonism and under the influence of melatonin in vitro depend on the H-2 haplotype mice, which can be the basis for the development of personalized cell therapy for this pathology.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease/parkinsonism; multiple sclerosis; bone-marrow progenitor cells for fibroblasts; bone-marrow progenitor cells for granulocyte-macrophages; melatonin; CD4⁺ lymphocytes