IL8 and CXCL13 are potent chemokines for the recruitment of human neural precursor cells across brain endothelial cells

It has been recently shown that systemically injected neural precursor cells (NPCs) could cross brain endothelium and favor functional recovery in animal models of multiple sclerosis (MS). Here we show that human NPCs express receptors of the chemokines IL8 and CXCL13 (CXCR1 and CXCR5, respectively) and migrate across brain endothelial cells in vitro, in response to these chemokines. Considering that these chemokines have been found overexpressed in MS in active, but not inactive areas of demyelination, our data suggest that systemically injected human NPCs may be considered for targeting active areas of demyelination in therapeutic approaches of MS.