Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation downregulates plasma level and the microglia expression of transforming growth factor β1 in the acute phase of cerebral cortex ischemia

Modulatory effects of mesenchymal stem cells on microglia in ischemic stroke

Ischemic stroke accounts for 70-80% of all stroke cases. Immunity plays an important role in the pathophysiology of ischemic stroke. Microglia are the first line of defense in the central nervous system. Microglial functions are largely dependent on their pro-inflammatory (M1-like) or anti-inflammatory (M2-like) phenotype. Modulating neuroinflammation via targeting microglia polarization toward anti-inflammatory phenotype might be a novel treatment for ischemic stroke. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) have been demonstrated to modulate microglia activation and phenotype polarization. In this review, we summarize the physiological characteristics and functions of microglia in the healthy brain, the activation and polarization of microglia in stroke brain, the effects of MSC/MSC-EVs on the activation of MSC in vitro and in vivo, and possible underlying mechanisms, providing evidence for a possible novel therapeutics for the treatment of ischemic stroke.

Identification of the genetic central dogma in osteogenic differentiation of MSCs by osteoinductive medium from transcriptional data sets

Background

The genetic central dogma (GCD) has been demonstrated its essential function in many biological processes and diseases. However, its roles in the process of osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) remain unclear.

Methods

In this project, we analyzed an online database of osteogenic differentiation of MSCs after 14 days and 28 days by osteoinductive medium (GSE83770). The differentially expressed genes were screened by GEO2R, with further conducting of KEGG pathways using DAVID. In addition, protein–protein interactions of the enriched pathways were performed using STRING with marked hub genes measured by the CytoHubba. Hub genes were verified by quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction.

Results

Results showed that six pathways related to GCD, including DNA replication, Aminoacyl‐tRNA biosynthesis, Mismatch repair, Ribosome, Spliceosome, and RNA degradation pathways enriched in the early stage (14 days vs. undifferentiated MSCs) of osteogenesis. The Lysosome pathway was highly enriched in the late stage (28 vs. 14 days) of osteogenesis, and Ribosome pathway plays a key role throughout the entire process (28 days vs. undifferentiated MSCs) of osteogenesis.

Conclusion

Both DNA replication and protein translation were functionally worked in the early stage of osteogenesis, whereas the Lysosome pathway was the only GCD‐related one in the late stage of osteogenesis. The GCD‐related Ribosome pathway occupied the entire process of osteogenesis.

We identified six pathways associated with genetic central dogma (DNA replication, Aminoacyl‐tRNA biosynthesis, Mismatch repair, Ribosome, Spliceosome, and RNA degradation pathways), which participated in the early stage of osteogenesis (0−14 days).

The Lysosome pathway plays a crucial role in the late stage of osteogenesis (14–28 days), whereas the Ribosome pathway participates in the entire process (28 days vs. undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cells) of osteogenesis.