Migration and differentiation of canine bone marrow stromal cells transplanted into the developing mouse brain

To evaluate whether canine bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) can migrate and adopt neural phenotypes in the developing mouse brain we transplanted fluorescently labeled BMSCs into the lateral ventricle of immunocompromised neonatal mice. Most fibroblasts, used as a control, and BMSCs isolated from adult dogs remained around the injection site and exhibited a spindle-shaped appearance. A small number of BMSCs from young dogs were found in the subventricular zone, rostral migratory stream, and olfactory bulbs, and retained expression of neuron marker. Our findings suggest that BMSCs isolated from adult dogs have limited ability of migration and differentiation toward neural cells in the developing brain. Bone marrow of young dogs may contain a primitive stem cell population with neural differentiation capacity.