The Co-Injection of Somatic Cells with Embryonic Stem Cells Affects Teratoma Formation and the Properties of Teratoma-Derived Stem Cell-Like Cells

The aim of this study was to assess the biological reactions triggered by stem cell transplantation related to phenotypic alteration, host-to-cell response, chromosomal stability, transcriptional alteration, and stem cell-like cell re-expansion. B6CBAF1 mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) were injected subcutaneously into homologous or heterologous (B6D2F1) recipients, and heterologous injections were performed with or without co-injection of B6D2F1 fetal fibroblasts. All homologous injections resulted in teratoma formation, whereas a sharp decrease in formation was detected after heterologous injection (100 vs. 14%; p <0.05). The co-injection of somatic cells in heterologous injections enhanced teratoma formation significantly (14 vs. 75%; p <0.05). Next, ESC-like cell colonies with the same genotype as parental ESCs were formed by culturing teratoma-dissociated cells. Compared with parental ESCs, teratoma-derived ESC-like cells exhibited significantly increased aneuploidy, regardless of homologous or heterologous injections. Repopulation of the parental ESCs was the main factor that induced chromosomal instability, whereas the co-injection of somatic cells did not restore chromosomal normality. Different genes were expressed in the parental ESCs and teratoma-derived ESC-like cells; the difference was larger with parental vs. heterologous than parental vs. homologous co-injections. The co-injection of somatic cells decreased this difference further. In conclusion, the host-to-cell interactions triggered by ESC transplantation could be modulated by co-injection with somatic cells. A mouse model using homologous or heterologous transplantation of stem cells could help monitor cell adaptability and gene expression after injection.