Schwann cells differentiated from spheroid-forming cells of rat subcutaneous fat tissue myelinate axons in the spinal cord injury

In the present study, we found that nestin-expressing spheroid cells derived from multipotent adipose stem cells of subcutaneous fat tissue could efficiently differentiate into Schwann cells (SCs) in vitro based on expression of SC markers such as A2B5, GFAP, O4, p75, S100, Sox10, Krox-20, and L1. The induced SC is engrafted to spinal cord injury lesions and formed a peripheral nervous system (PNS)-type myelin sheath on central nervous system (CNS) axons. PNS-type myelin sheath formation in repaired tissue was confirmed by transplantation of both induced PKH26-labeled SC and induced EGFP-expressing SC generated from EGFP transgenic rats. In addition to direct participation as myelin sheath-forming SC in repaired tissue, the induced SC also expressed several neurotrophic factors, as did native SC, which may suggest an additional role for induced SC in stimulation of endogenous healing responses. Thus, spheroid-forming cells from subcutaneous fat tissue demonstrated rapid and efficient induction into SC, and such cells show therapeutic promise for repair of damage to the CNS and PNS.