CMT 1A: Identification of transplanted human cells in animal tissues

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Methods Mol Biol. 2006;326:189-201.

Identification of transplanted human cells in animal tissues.

Benten D, Cheng K, Gupta S.

Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College, Bronx, NY, USA.

The potential of cell and gene therapy has generated extensive

interest over the past several years. More recently, identification

of stem cells of various types, especially embryonic stem cells,

reinforced this interest. Systematic studies are now being launched

to define the biology of various stem cells, including after

transplantation of cells in mmunodeficient animals.

This requires robust and unequivocal means to identify transplanted

cells. Ideally, it should be possible to screen animal tissues for

human cells with relatively simpler methods, followed by more precise

localization of transplanted cells.

We describe the application of conserved primate Charcot-Marie-Tooth

disease type 1A repeat element for polymerase chain reaction-based

screening of animal tissues for human cells. Similarly, direct

polymerase chain reaction labeling of pancentromeric human alphoid

sequences with digoxigenin-UTP generates in situ hybridization probes

for identifying transplanted human cells.

This pancentromeric probe identifies human cells irrespective of the

original tissue source and can be combined with additional in situ

methods to analyze cell differentiation. Incorporation of these

strategies will facilitate translational studies aimed at

understanding mechanisms concerning the trafficking, engraftment,

proliferation, differentiation and function of human stem cells in

animals.