Upregulation of endothelial gene markers in Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells cultured on polyelectrolyte multilayers

Genome-wide methylome pattern predictive network analysis reveal mesenchymal stem cell's propensity to undergo cardiovascular lineage

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) differentiation toward cardiovascular lineage prediction using the global methylome profile will highlight its prospective utility in regenerative medicine. We examined the propensity prediction to cardiovascular lineage using 5-Aza, a well-known cardiac lineage inducer. The customized 180 K microarray was performed and further analysis of global differentially methylated regions by Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) in both MSCs and 5-AC-treated MSCs. The cluster enrichment tools sorted differentially enriched genes and further annotated to construct the interactive networks. Prediction analysis revealed pathways pertaining to the cardiovascular lineage found active in the native MSCs, suggesting its higher propensity to undergo cardiac, smooth muscle cell, and endothelial lineages in vitro. Interestingly, gene interaction network also proposed majorly stemness gene network NANOG and KLF6, cardiac-specific transcription factors GATA4, NKX2.5, and TBX5 were upregulated in the native MSCs. Furthermore, the expression of cardiovascular lineage specific markers such as Brachury, CD105, CD90, CD31, KDR and various forms of ACTIN (cardiac, sarcomeric, smooth muscle) were validated in native MSCs using real time PCR and immunostaining and blotting analysis. In 5-AC-treated MSCs, mosaic interactive networks were observed to persuade towards osteogenesis and cardiac lineage, indicating that 5-AC treatment resulted in nonspecific lineage induction in MSCs, while MSCs by default have a higher propensity to undergo cardiovascular lineage.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-03058-2.

Osteoinductive Material to Fine-Tune Paracrine Crosstalk of Mesenchymal Stem Cells With Endothelial Cells and Osteoblasts

While stem cell/biomaterial studies provide solid evidences that biomaterial intrinsic cues deeply affect cell fate, current strategies tend to neglect their effects on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) secretory activities and resulting cell-crosstalks. The present study aims to investigate the impact of bone-mimetic material (B-MM), with intrinsic osteoinductive property, on MSCs mediator secretions; and to explore underlying effects on cells involved in bone regeneration. Human MSCs were cultured, on B-MM, made from inorganic calcium phosphate supplemented with chitosan and hyaluronic acid biopolymers. Collected MSCs culture media were assessed for mediators release quantification and used further to stimulate endothelial cells (ECs) and alveolar bone derived osteoblasts (OBs). Without osteogenic supplements, MSCs committed into bone lineage forming thus 3D bone-like nodules after 21 days. Despite a weak percentage of cell commitment, our data elucidate new aspects of osteoinductive material effect on MSCs functions through the regulation of the secretion of mediators involved in bone regeneration and subsequently the MSCs/ECs indirect crosstalk with osteogenesis-boosting effect. Using MSCs culture media, we demonstrate a large potential of osteoinductive materials and MSCs in bone regenerative medicine. Such strategies could help to address some insights in cell-free therapies using MSCs derived media.

Controlled allylation of polyelectrolytes: a deep insight into chemical aspects and their applicability as building blocks for robust multilayer coatings

Polyelectrolytes (PEs) bearing easily derivatizable functions for possible post-modification under mild conditions can find a broad range of applications in various fields. The present paper describes the successful controlled side-chain allylation of two types of PEs: polyamine-based polycations, i.e. poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and branched polyethyleneimine (PEI), and strong polyanions, i.e. poly(sodium vinyl sulfonate) (PVS) and poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) (PSS). PSS has been largely investigated in the literature, while PVS is much less commonly explored. The allylation of each type presents its own drawback, i.e. heterogeneous reaction in the case of strong polyanions and instability of partially protonated allylated polyamine products. Nevertheless, all encountered difficulties could be solved and thoroughly elucidated by different experimental tests. This partial allyl-functionalization does not affect the electrolytic properties of the newly allylated PEs, as evidenced by the effective construction of two series of polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) films, namely PEI-ene (PSS-ene/PAH-ene)4 and PEI-ene (PVS-ene/PAH-ene)4, the latter being one of the rare examples developed in the literature. The presence of allyl groups on the PE side-chains allows for the stabilization of the resulting PEM films via thiol-ene photo-crosslinking in the presence of a water-soluble dithiol crosslinker. In order to fix permanently the resulting crosslinked PEM films on substrates, the covalent crosslinking occurs not only between different C=C bonds on PE layers but also with those present on substrates preliminarily functionalized with allyl groups via sulfur–gold chemistry. The robustness of both resulting crosslinked PEM films under strongly basic solution (pH 14) is validated by Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) measurements. The versatility and effectiveness of the present approach is expected to find potential applications in different scientific and technological fields.

Boosting mesenchymal stem cells regenerative activities on biopolymers-calcium phosphate functionalized collagen membrane

The regeneration of bone-soft tissue interface, using functional membranes, remains challenging and can be promoted by improving mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) paracrine function. Herein, a collagen membrane, used as guided bone regeneration membrane, was functionalized by calcium phosphate, chitosan and hyaluronic acid hybrid coating by simultaneous spray of interacting species process. Composed of brushite, octacalcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite, the hybrid coating increased the membrane stiffness by 50%. After 7 days of MSCs culture on the hybrid coated polymeric membrane, biological studies were marked by a lack of osteoblastic commitment. However, MSCs showed an enhanced proliferation along with the secretion of cytokines and growth factors that could block bone resorption and favour endothelial cell recruitment without exacerbating polynuclear neutrophils infiltration. These data shed light on the great potential of inorganic/organic coated collagen membranes as an alternative bioactive factor-like platform to improve MSCs regenerative capacity, in particular to support bone tissue vascularization and to modulate inflammatory infiltrates.

Chitosan/hyaluronic acid multilayer films are biocompatible substrate for Wharton's jelly derived stem cells

Background

Discovery of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in various adult human tissues opened the way to new therapeutic strategies involving tissue engineering from these cells. More recently, vascular substitutes have opened the era of vascular engineering by making replacement vessels from purely biological material. The objective of our study was to create a vascular substitute from MSCs using a multilayer polyelectrolyte film based on natural polymers (Chitosan and Hyaluronic Acid).

Methods

Biocompatibility and cellular behavior were evaluated in this study using MSCs from the Wharton's jelly (WJ) of human umbilical cords. WJ-MSCs adherence was assessed and cells morphology was investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and actin visualization (Phalloidin).

Results

The number of WJ-MSCs seeded on the (CHI/HA)₁₀ films was greater than the number of cells seeded on the collagen, as the spectrophotometric measurement showed a large cell proliferation on (CHI/HA)₁₀ in comparison with collagen. After adhesion, WJ-MSCs showed a fibroblastic morphology on CHI/HA as for control (collagen I). These results were confirmed by cytoskeleton staining.

Conclusions

The biocompatibility of WJ-MSCs and (CHI/HA)₁₀ showed the possibility to combine the use of WJ-MSCs and (CHI/HA)₁₀ films in vascular tissue engineering.