This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Material Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Spyridonidis, A. Articles by Finke, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Spyridonidis, A. Articles by Finke, J.

(American Journal of Pathology. 2004;164:1147-1155.)
© 2004 American Society for Investigative Pathology

Epithelial Tissue Chimerism after Human Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Is a Real Phenomenon

Alexandros Spyridonidis^*, Annette Schmitt-Gräff, Tina Tomann^*, Anne Dwenger^*, Marie Follo^*, Dirk Behringer^* and Jürgen Finke^*

From the Departments of Hematology/Oncology^* and Pathology, Freiburg University Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany

Bone marrow transplantation in animals has been shown to generate epithelial populations, a phenomenon that has also recently been suggested to take place after human hematopoietic cell transplantation. However, reports in humans are not conclusive because they still leave open the possibility that the identified donor-derived cells are not epithelial cells but intraepithelial lymphocytes. Here, we demonstrate that donor-derived CD45+ hematopoietic cells in close contact with epithelial tissue may be falsely characterized as donor-derived epithelial cells if the three-dimensional structure of the tissue is not considered and the hematopoietic markers are not examined. By using a rigorous three-dimensional analysis on single sections of colon biopsies triple stained with donor-specific, epithelial-specific, and hematopoietic-specific markers we demonstrate that chimerism of colon epithelium is a real phenomenon occurring constantly after human hematopoietic cell transplantation. We exclude horizontal DNA transfer or cell fusion as the underlying mechanism of our findings. Tissue damage enhances the engraftment of the donor-derived epithelial cells. The physiological and therapeutical role of the donor-derived epithelial cells after human hematopoietic cell transplantation needs further investigation. However, their identification requires stringent and unequivocal detection systems.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. L. Spees, M. J. Whitney, D. E. Sullivan, J. A. Lasky, M. Laboy, J. Ylostalo, and D. J. Prockop Bone marrow progenitor cells contribute to repair and remodeling of the lung and heart in a rat model of progressive pulmonary hypertension FASEB J, April 1, 2008; 22(4): 1226 - 1236. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Mints, M. Jansson, B. Sadeghi, M. Westgren, M. Uzunel, M. Hassan, and J. Palmblad Endometrial endothelial cells are derived from donor stem cells in a bone marrow transplant recipient Hum. Reprod., January 1, 2008; 23(1): 139 - 143. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. Avital, A. L. Moreira, D. S. Klimstra, M. Leversha, E. B. Papadopoulos, M. Brennan, and R. J. Downey Donor-Derived Human Bone Marrow Cells Contribute to Solid Organ Cancers Developing After Bone Marrow Transplantation Stem Cells, November 1, 2007; 25(11): 2903 - 2909. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. M. Bruscia, E. C. Ziegler, J. E. Price, S. Weiner, M. E. Egan, and D. S. Krause Engraftment of Donor-Derived Epithelial Cells in Multiple Organs Following Bone Marrow Transplantation into Newborn Mice Stem Cells, October 1, 2006; 24(10): 2299 - 2308. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. C. Chang, R. Summer, X. Sun, K. Fitzsimmons, and A. Fine Evidence that Bone Marrow Cells Do Not Contribute to the Alveolar Epithelium Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., October 1, 2005; 33(4): 335 - 342. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Jiang, L. Walker, M. Afentoulis, D. A. Anderson, L. Jauron-Mills, C. L. Corless, and W. H. Fleming Transplanted human bone marrow contributes to vascular endothelium PNAS, November 30, 2004; 101(48): 16891 - 16896. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]