The Preconditioning of Busulfan Promotes Efficiency of Human CD133+ Cells Engraftment in NOD Shi-SCID IL2Rγcnull (NOG) Mice via Intra-Bone Marrow Injection

Abstract

Human CD133 + stem cells were injected into the bone marrow cavity of NOG (NOD Shi-SCID IL2Rγc null ) mice with or without preconditioning of busulfan in order to assess the efficiency of human CD133 + cells engraftment. Peripheral blood from CD133 + -engrafted NOG mice was analyzed by flow cytometry. The results showed that human CD19 + B lymphocytes could be detected at 4 weeks post-transplantation, and human CD4 + , CD8 + subsets of T lymphocytes, CD19 – CD14 – HLA-DR + DCs and CD19 – CD14 + monocytes could be detected at 16 weeks post-transplantation. The survival rate of mice in busulfan-untreated group (100%) was slightly higher than that in the busulfan-pretreated group (83%) ( P > 0.05). However, the differentiation efficiency of CD133 + stem cells in busulfan-pretreated group was significantly higher than that in the untreated group ( P < 0.05). This data imply that CD133 + cells could be a good resource for a humanized mouse model, and the preconditioning of busulfan could be more conducive to accelerating the differentiation of human CD133 + cells in NOG mice by intra-bone marrow injection.