Do Bone Marrow Cells Generate Neurons?

Hess DC et al. Arch Neurol 2004;61:483-485. Neurological Review.

Bone marrow cells can evolve into hepatocytes, endothelial, muscle, cardiac muscle or neuronal cells, in vitro and in vivo. Method used is transplanting genetically marked bone marrow in mice that have received lethal radiation. The "radiation chimera" is often a sex mismatch, eg. a y chromosome in a female. Many neurologic structures received marked cells including cells expressing GFP and NS proteins, in olfactory bulb, cortex, hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, PAG, striatum, Purkinje cells of cerebellum but not spinal cord or brainstem. This also has been shown in several humans who received transgender bone marrow transplants . Some evidence suggests this is due to cell fusion. It is not yet clear whether these cells express normal function.