Demonstration of hematopoietic stem cells in ginbuna carp (Carassius auratus langsdorfii) kidney

A model system of ginbuna carp (clonal triploid fish, Carassius auratus langsdorfii) and ginbuna-goldfish hybrids (tetraploid fish, having three sets of chromosomes from a triploid clone and a haploid set of chromosomes from goldfish) was employed to demonstrate the presence of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in kidney hematopoietic tissues. Kidney hematopoietic cells were obtained from ginbuna carp (S3n, donor) and injected into a ginbuna-gold fish hybrid (S4n, recipient) via the caudal sinus. The percentage of S3n cells in the S4n blood was measured by flow cytometry by the difference of DNA content from 3 to 18 months after the injection.Donor-derived major types of blood cells including erythrocytes, thrombocytes, neutrophils, basophils, monocytes, T and B lymphocytes were detected in the recipient blood over a long period (9–18 month posttransplantation). Moreover, recipient lympho-hematopoietic organs such as head kidney, body kidney, spleen, and thymus were reconstituted by donor cells. These results indicate that long-term multipotent repopulating HSCs reside in the donor kidney.