Journal of Genetic Syndromes & Gene Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Reconstitution with Bone Marrow Cells is Consistently Defective in the Tibia of Aged Monkeys

Susumu Ikehara, Ming Li, Ming Shi, Yunze Cui, Kequan Guo and Yasushi Adachi

Biological aging is associated with a progressive loss of regulation of cellular, tissue and organ interaction, ultimately resulting in senescence. Fat gradually occupies bone cavity with age. Studies of the hematopoietic system using nonhuman primates have provided important information for understanding the mechanism of human hematopoiesis. We previously reported that excellent reconstitution of donor hematopoietic cells in a collagen gel group was observed in the long term in mice. We therefore investigated whether the method would be helpful for reconstituting hematopoiesis in the fatty tibias of monkeys. Nine- to 11-year-old monkeys were used for this study to examine if hematopoiesis could be restored in the fatty marrow of old monkeys. Bone marrow cells were collected from the humerus using the perfusion method, mixed with cultured bone marrow mesenchymalstroma cells in collagen gel, and then injected into the tibia of the same monkey. Clot sections were made from the tibias 1, 2 and 6 weeks after the bone marrow transplantation. However, no bone marrow cells were observed at any of the time points. These results suggested that bone marrow reconstitution is consistently defective in aged monkeys.