Effect of expansion media containing fibroblast growth factor-2 and dexamethasone on the chondrogenic potential of human adipose-derived stromal cells

Inflammatory priming with IL-1β promotes the immunomodulatory behavior of adipose derived stem cells

Inflammatory processes contribute to osteoarthritis (OA) severity and progression. Mesenchymal stem cells, particularly those derived from adipose tissue (ASCs), are able to sense and control the inflammatory environment. This immunomodulatory potential can be boosted by different priming strategies based on inflammatory stimulation. The aim of the present study is to investigate the transcriptional modulation of a huge panel of genes and functionally verify the predicted immunomodulatory ability of ASCs after interleukin one beta (IL-1β) priming. ASCs were isolated from adipose tissue obtained from three donors and expanded. After stimulation with 1 ng/ml of IL-1β for 48 h, cells were collected for gene array and functional tests. Pooled cells from three donors were used for RNA extraction and gene array analysis. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were performed to assess the involvement of the modulated genes after priming in specific biological processes and pathways. Functional co-culture tests of ASCs with T cells and macrophages were performed to assess the ability of primed ASCs to modulate immune cell phenotype. Among the overall genes analyzed in the gene array, about the 18% were up- or down-regulated in ASCs after IL-1β priming. GO enrichment analysis of up- or down-regulated genes in ASCs after IL-1β priming allowed identifying specific pathways involved in the modulation of inflammation and extracellular matrix remodeling. The main processes enriched according to the GSEA are related to the inflammatory response and cell proliferative processes. Functional tests on immune cells showed that primed and non-primed ASCs induced a decrease in the CD3+ T lymphocytes survival rate and an anti-inflammatory macrophage polarization. In conclusion, IL-1β priming represents a tailored strategy to enhance the ability of ASCs to direct macrophages towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype and, consequently, improve the efficacy of ASCs in counteracting the OA inflammatory component.

Immunomodulatory potential of secretome from cartilage cells and mesenchymal stromal cells in an arthritic context: From predictive fiction toward reality

The purpose of the present study is to predict by bioinformatics the activity of the extracellular vesicle (EV)-embedded micro RNA (miRNAs) secreted by cartilage cells (CCs), adipose tissue-derived- (ASCs), and bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs) and verify their immunomodulatory potential supporting our bioinformatics findings to optimize the autologous cell-based therapeutic strategies for osteoarthritis (OA) management. Cells were isolated from surgical waste tissues of three patients who underwent total hip replacement, expanded and the EVs were collected. The expression of EV-embedded miRNA was evaluated with the QuantStudio 12 K Flex OpenArray^® platform. Mientournet and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) were used for validated target prediction analysis and to identify miRNAs involved in OA and inflammation. Cells shared the expression of 325 miRNAs embedded in EVs and differed for the expression of a small number of them. Mienturnet revealed no results for miRNAs selectively expressed by ASCs, whereas miRNA expressed by CCs and BMSCs were putatively involved in the modulation of cell cycle, senescence, apoptosis, Wingless and Int-1 (Wnt), transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Notch, Hippo, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), RUNX family transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), and endochondral ossification pathways. Cartilage homeostasis, macrophages and T cells activity and inflammatory mediators were identified by IPA as targets of the miRNAs found in all the cell populations. Co-culture tests on macrophages and T cells confirmed the immuno-modulatory ability of CCs, ASCs, and BMSCs. The study findings support the rationale behind the use of cell-based therapy for the treatment of OA.

miR-103a-3p and miR-22-5p Are Reliable Reference Genes in Extracellular Vesicles From Cartilage, Adipose Tissue, and Bone Marrow Cells

Cartilage cells (CCs), adipose tissue (ASC)- and bone marrow (BMSC)-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been shown as promising candidates for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). Despite their adaptive ability, exposure to chronic catabolic and inflammatory processes can limit their survival and healing potential. An attractive cell-free alternative or complementary strategy is represented by their secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs), having homeostatic properties on OA chondrocytes and synovial cells. In view of clinical translation, a thorough characterization of the shuttled therapeutic molecules, like miRNAs, is greatly needed to fingerprint and develop the most effective EV formulation for OA treatment. To date, a crucial pitfall is given by the lack of EV-miRNA-associated reference genes (RGs) for the reliable quantification and comparison among different therapeutic EV-based therapeutic products. In this study, the stability of 12 putative miRNA RGs (let-7a-5p, miR-16-5p, miR-22-5p, miR-23a-3p, miR-26a-5p, miR-29a-5p, miR-101-3p, miR-103a-3p, miR-221-3p, miR-423-5p, miR-425-5p and miR-660-5p), already proposed by literature in EV products from alternative sources, was assessed in EVs isolated from three donor-matched ASCs, BMSCs, and CCs through geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and ΔCt algorithms and the geometric mean of rankings. ASC-EVs and BMSC-EVs shared more similar molecular signatures than cartilage-derived EVs, although overall miR-103a-3p consistently ranked as the first and miR-22-5p as the second most stable EV-miRNA RG, whereas miR-221-3p behaved poorly. Further, to emphasize the impact of incorrect RG choice, the abundance of four OA-therapeutic miRNAs (miR-93-5p, miR-125b-5p, miR-455-3p, and miR-27b-3p) was compared. The use of miR-221-3p led to less accurate EV fingerprinting and, when applied to sift therapeutic potency prediction, to misleading indication of the most appropriate clinical product. In conclusion, miR-103a-3p and miR-22-5p will represent reliable RGs for the quantification of miRNAs embedded in MSC- and CC-EVs, a mandatory step for the molecular definition and comparison of the clinical potency of these innovative cell-free-based therapeutic products for OA in particular, as well as for a wider array of regenerative-medicine-based approaches.

Human Diseased Articular Cartilage Contains a Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Like Population of Chondroprogenitors with Strong Immunomodulatory Responses

Background: osteoarthritic human articular cartilage (AC)-derived cartilage cells (CCs) with same-donor bone marrow (BMSCs) and adipose tissue (ASCs)-derived mesenchymal stem cells were compared, in terms of stemness features, and secretory and immunomodulatory responses to inflammation. Methods: proteoglycan 4 (PRG4) presence was evaluated in AC and CCs. MSCs and CCs (n = 8) were cultured (P1 to P4) and characterized for clonogenicity, nanog homeobox (NANOG), and POU class 5 homeobox 1 (POU5F1) expression, immunotypification, and tri-lineage differentiation. Their basal and interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-stimulated expression of matrix metalloproteases (MMPs), tissue inhibitors (TIMPs), release of growth factors, and cytokines were analyzed, along with the immunomodulatory ability of CCs. Results: PRG4 was mainly expressed in the intact AC surface, whereas shifted to the intermediate zone in damaged cartilage and increased its expression in CCs upon culture. All cells exhibited a similar phenotype and stemness maintenance over passages. CCs showed highest chondrogenic ability, no adipogenic potential, a superior basal secretion of growth factors and cytokines, the latter further increased after inflammatory stimulation, and an immunomodulatory behavior. All stimulated cells shared an increased MMP expression without a corresponding TIMP production. Conclusion: based on the observed features, CCs obtained from pathological joints may constitute a potential tissue-specific therapeutic target or agent to improve damaged cartilage healing, especially damage caused by inflammatory/immune mediated conditions.

Evaluation of cartilage, synovium and adipose tissue as cellular sources for osteochondral repair

Osteochondral lesions are a major cause of pain and disability in several species including dogs, horses and human beings. The objective of this study was to assess three potential sources of canine cells for their osteochondral regenerative potential. Cartilage, synovium and adipose tissue cells were grown in pellet culture in chondrogenic or osteogenic media. Cartilage-derived pellets displayed the best chondrogenic differentiation as indicated by significantly higher COL2A1 and SOX9 mRNA expression, greater glycosaminoglycan content, and higher retention of Safranin-O stain compared to the synovium and adipose-derived cells. Following application of the osteogenic media, all three cell sources exhibited small areas of positive alizarin red staining. Poor intracellular alkaline phosphatase activity was found in all three cell types when stimulated although osteocalcin and RUNX2 expression were significantly increased. Cells isolated and cultured from canine articular cartilage retained their specific chondrocytic phenotype. Furthermore, canine adipocytes and synovial cells did not undergo chondrogenic differentiation and did not exhibit evidence of multipotency. Although osteogenic differentiation was initiated at a genomic level, phenotypic osteoblastic differentiation was not observed. The findings of this study suggest that cells isolated from canine adipose tissue and synovium are sub-optimal substitutes for chondrocytes when engineering articular cartilage in vitro.