Immortalized canine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells alleviate gentamicin-induced acute kidney injury by inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress in mice and dogs

Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation: Systematic review, meta-analysis and clinical applications for acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease in dogs and cats

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute kidney injury (AKI) are diseases which affect the urinary tract characterized by the loss of renal function. Their therapy requires different therapeutic goals. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) transplantation has spread over the years as a treatment for many diseases. In the urinary tract, studies report anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, antifibrotic, antioxidant and angiogenic effects. This work reports the results of a meta-analysis about the effects of the MSC application in serum levels of creatinine in dogs and cats with AKI and CKD. The work followed PRISMA guidelines. Data were screened, selected, and extracted with characteristics about the studies. The kinds of injury were classified according to their identification and the risk of bias was calculated by the system SYRCLE. The results of each group were combined by the inverse variance method. The heterogeneity was evaluated by the I2 test. For the mean of creatinine, a meta-analysis was performed according to the study group and number of applications and separately for the control and treatment groups according to the kind of injury, dose, application route, and moment. At all, 4742 articles were found. Of these, 40 were selected for eligibility, 16 underwent qualitative analysis and 9 to the quantitative. The results denote advantage to the group treated with MSC over placebo. A statistical difference was observed both in combined analysis and in the subgroups division. However, a high heterogeneity was found, which indicates considerable variation between the studies, which indicates caution in generalize the results.

SPARC overexpression in allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in dog dry eye model induced by benzalkonium chloride

BACKGROUND

Nowadays, companion and working dogs hold significant social and economic importance. Dry eye, also known as dry keratoconjunctivitis (KCS), a common disease in ophthalmology, can readily impact a dog's working capacity and lead to economic losses. Although there are several medications available for this disease, all of them only improve the symptoms on the surface of the eye, and they are irritating and not easy to use for long periods of time. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSC) are promising candidates for tissue regeneration and disease treatment. However, long-term in vitro passaging leads to stemness loss of ADMSC. Here, we aimed to use ADMSC overexpressing Secreted Protein Acidic and Rich in Cysteine (SPARC) to treat 0.25% benzalkonium chloride-treated dogs with dry eye to verify its efficacy. For in vitro validation, we induced corneal epithelial cell (HCECs) damage using 1 µg/mL benzalkonium chloride.

METHODS

Fifteen male crossbred dogs were randomly divided into five groups: normal, dry eye self-healing control, cyclosporine-treated, ADMSC-CMV-treated and ADMSC-OESPARC-treated. HCECs were divided into four groups: normal control group, untreated model group, ADMSC-CMV supernatant culture group and ADMSC-OESRARC supernatant culture group.

RESULTS

SPARC-modified ADMSC had the most significant effect on canine ocular surface inflammation, corneal injury, and tear recovery, and the addition of ADMSC-OESPARC cell supernatant also had a salvage effect on HCECs cellular damage, such as cell viability and cell proliferation ability. Moreover, analysis of the co-transcriptome sequencing data showed that SPARC could promote corneal epithelial cell repair by enhancing the in vitro viability, migration and proliferation and immunosuppression of ADMSC.

CONCLUSION

The in vitro cell test and in vivo model totally suggest that the combination of SPARC and ADMSC has a promising future in novel dry eye therapy.

Caffeine and neonatal acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury is one of the most threatening diseases in neonates, with complex pathogenesis and limited treatment options. Caffeine is a commonly used central nervous system stimulant for treating apnea in preterm infants. There is compelling evidence that caffeine may have potential benefits for preventing neonatal acute kidney injury, but comprehensive reports are lacking in this area. Hence, this review aims to provide a summary of clinical data on the potential benefits of caffeine in improving neonatal acute kidney injury. Additionally, it delves into the molecular mechanisms underlying caffeine's effects on acute kidney injury, with a focus on various aspects such as oxidative stress, adenosine receptors, mitochondrial dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, inflammasome, autophagy, p53, and gut microbiota. The ultimate goal of this review is to provide information for healthcare professionals regarding the link between caffeine and neonatal acute kidney injury and to identify gaps in our current understanding.

Muscle-Derived Stem/Progenitor Cells Ameliorate Acute Kidney Injury in Rats through the Anti-Apoptotic Pathway and Demonstrate Comparable Effects to Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Background and Objectives: To date, the therapeutic potential of skeletal muscle-derived stem/progenitor cells (MDSPCs) for acute kidney injury (AKI) has only been evaluated by our research group. We aimed to compare MDSPCs with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) and evaluate their feasibility for the treatment of AKI. Materials and Methods: Rats were randomly assigned to four study groups: control, GM (gentamicin) group, GM+MDSPCs, and GM+BM-MSCs. AKI was induced by gentamicin (80 mg/kg/day; i.p.) for 7 consecutive days. MDSPCs and BM-MSCs were injected 24 h after the last gentamicin injection. Kidney parameters were determined on days 0, 8, 14, 21, and 35. Results: MDSPCs and BM-MSCs accelerated functional kidney recovery, as reflected by significantly lower serum creatinine levels and renal injury score, higher urinary creatinine and creatinine clearance levels (p < 0.05), lower TUNEL-positive cell number, and decreased KIM-1 and NGAL secretion in comparison to the non-treated AKI group. There was no significant difference in any parameters between the MDSPCs and BM-MSCs groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions: MDSPCs and BM-MSCs can migrate and incorporate into injured renal tissue, resulting in a beneficial impact on functional and morphological kidney recovery, which is likely mediated by the secretion of paracrine factors and an anti-apoptotic effect. MDSPCs were found to be non-inferior to BM-MSCs and therefore can be considered as a potential candidate strategy for the treatment of AKI.

An initial characterisation of the Unfolded Protein Response pathway in haematopoietic canine cancer cell lines - a necessary step for the future development of new therapies in dogs with neoplasia

Introduction

New and more effective therapies for canine cancer patients are urgently required and this necessitates advanced experimental research. Dogs are good models for studies in comparative oncology; however, canine cancer cell biology research is currently limited by low availability of validated antibody reagents and techniques. This study characterises the expression of key components of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in a panel of haematopoietic canine cancer cell lines using commercially available antibodies, and validates the methods used to study this pathway.

Material and Methods

The CLBL-1 canine lymphoma cell line and the GL-1 canine leukaemia cell line sourced externally and two counterparts established in house (CNK-89 and CLB70) were used as models of different lymphoma and leukaemia canine cell lines for the study. The human U2OS cell line served as the control. Antibodies were selected for identifying UPR proteins according to known canine cell reactivity and canine-murine and canine-human homology. Endoplasmic reticulum stress was induced with thapsigargin and MG132 in the cell lines. Etoposide was used to induce DNA damage in the cells. The techniques used for this validation analysis were RNA sequencing to observe the expression of UPR components in canine cell lines, Western blot to observe changes of protein expression levels after inducing ER stress in the cells, and flow cytometry in order to study cell death.

Results

Substantial variations in both the basic expression and agonist-induced activation of the UPR pathway were observed in canine cancer cell lines, although the biological significance of these differences requires further investigation.

Conclusion

These findings will be a starting point for future studies on cancer biology in dogs. They will also contribute to developing novel anticancer therapies for canine patients and may provide new insights into human oncology.

Bilayer Silk Fibroin/Sodium Alginate Scaffold Delivered hUC-MSCs to Enhance Skin Scarless Healing and Hair Follicle Regeneration with the IRE1/XBP1 Pathway Inhibition

Efficient local delivery of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is a decisive factor for their application in regeneration processes. Here, we prepared a biomimetic bilayer silk fibroin/sodium alginate (SF/SA) scaffold to deliver human umbilical mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) for wound healing. An SA membrane was prepared by the casting method on the upper layer of the scaffold to simulate the dense epidermal structure. On the lower layer, porous materials simulating the loose structure of the dermis were formed by the freeze-drying method. In vitro, the scaffold was proven to have a high-density pore structure, good swelling property, and suitable degradation rate. The hUC-MSCs could survive on the scaffold for up to 14 days and maintain cell stemness for at least 7 days. In vivo, SF/SA scaffolds loaded with hUC-MSCs (M-SF/SA) were applied to full-thickness defect wounds and compared with the local injection of hUC-MSCs. The M-SF/SA group showed excellent therapeutic efficacy, characterized by induction of macrophage polarization, regulation of TGF-β expression and collagen components, and enhancement of vascular regeneration, thereby preventing scar formation and promoting hair follicle regeneration. Furthermore, the expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress markers IRE1, XBP1, and CHOP was inhibited significantly in M-SF/SA treatment. In conclusion, the bilayer SF/SA scaffold is an ideal delivery platform for hUC-MSCs, and the M-SF/SA system could locally promote scarless skin healing and hair follicle regeneration by alleviating the IRE1/XBP1 signal pathway.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells Pretreated with Collagen Promote Skin Wound-Healing

The existing treatment modalities for skin injuries mainly include dressings, negative-pressure wound treatment, autologous skin grafting, and high-pressure wound treatment. All of these therapies have limitations such as high time cost, the inability to remove inactivated tissue in a timely manner, surgical debridement, and oxygen toxicity. Mesenchymal stem cells have a unique self-renewal ability and wide differentiation potential, and they are one of the most promising stem cell types in cell therapy and have great application prospects in the field of regenerative medicine. Collagen exerts structural roles by promoting the molecular structure, shape, and mechanical properties of cells, and adding it to cell cultures can also promote cell proliferation and shorten the cell doubling time. The effects of collagen on MSCs were examined using Giemsa staining, EdU staining, and growth curves. Mice were subjected to allogeneic experiments and autologous experiments to reduce individual differences; all animals were separated into four groups. Neonatal skin sections were detected by HE staining, Masson staining, immunohistochemical staining, and immunofluorescence staining. We found that the MSCs pretreated with collagen accelerated the healing of skin wounds in mice and canines by promoting epidermal layer repair, collagen deposition, hair follicle angiogenesis, and an inflammatory response. Collagen promotes the secretion of the chemokines and growth factors associated with skin healing by MSCs, which positively influences skin healing. This study supports the treatment of skin injuries with MSCs cultured in medium with collagen added.