A Rat Model of Radiation Vasculitis for the Study of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Based Therapy

Figure 5

Illustrative mechanism by which RT-plus-TX model promotes the engraftment of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). After local irradiation, the aortas together with adjacent tissues are subjected to injury and release damage signal to attract the migration of infused MSCs. The migrated MSCs are dispersed in the aortas and adjacent tissues, leading to seemly low frequency of MSC engraftment. When the irradiated aortas are transplanted to isogenic healthy rats, the injured aortas live with normal surrounding tissues. The MSCs are prone to gather in the injured aortas, and the frequency of MSC engraftment is improved.