Stemness of human Wharton's jelly mesenchymal cells is maintained by floating cultivation

Curative Effect of AD-MSCs against Cisplatin-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats is Potentiated by Azilsartan: Targeting Oxidative Stress, MAPK, and Apoptosis Signaling Pathways

Despite its clinical value, cisplatin (CISP) is complicated by marked hepatotoxicity via inducing oxidative stress, inflammatory, and apoptotic pathways. This study aims to explore the protective impact of azilsartan (AZIL), an antihypertensive drug, in addition to adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) on CISP-induced hepatotoxicity. After characterization and labeling of AD-MSCs by PKH26 dye, 54 Wistar male albino rats were randomly divided into nine groups: I (CONT), II (AZIL.H), III (CISP), IV (CISP + AZIL.L), V (CISP + AZIL.H), VI (CISP + AD-MSCs), VII (CISP + AZIL.L + AD-MSCs), VIII (CISP + AZIL.H + AD-MSCs), and IX (CISP + VITA C). Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alanine aminotransferase (AST), and albumin levels were determined. Assessment of reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde, and glutathione contents, and superoxide dismutase activity and histopathological evaluations were done on hepatic tissue. Quantitative real-time PCR was utilized to estimate the expression of TNF-α and IL-6 genes. Cell homing of labeled AD-MSCs to the liver tissues was investigated. Hepatic expression of JNK1/2, ERK1/2, p38, Bax, Bcl-2, and cleaved caspase-3 proteins was investigated by western blot analysis. CISP elevated serum ALT and AST activities, reduced albumin level, and remarkably changed the hepatic architecture. It increased the expression TNF-α and IL-6 genes, raised the expression of JNK1/2, ERK1/2, p38, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3 proteins, and diminished the Bcl-2 protein. By contrast, treatment of animals with either AZIL or AD-MSCs dramatically reduced the effects of CISP injection. Moreover, treatment with combination therapy (AZIL.L or H + AD-MSCs) considerably mitigated all previously mentioned alterations superior to AZIL or AD-MSCs alone, which might be attributed to the AZIL-enhanced homing ability of AD-MSCs into the injured liver tissue. In conclusion, the present findings demonstrated that AZIL improves the hepatoprotective potential of AD-MSCs against CISP-induced hepatotoxicity by modulating oxidative stress, mitogen-activated protein kinase, and apoptotic pathways.

Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells: a concise review of their secretome and prospective clinical applications

Accumulating evidence indicates that most primary Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) therapeutic potential is due to their paracrine activity, i.e., their ability to modulate their microenvironment by releasing bioactive molecules and factors collectively known as secretome. These bioactive molecules and factors can either be released directly into the surrounding microenvironment or can be embedded within the membrane-bound extracellular bioactive nano-sized (usually 30-150 nm) messenger particles or vesicles of endosomal origin with specific route of biogenesis, known as exosomes or carried by relatively larger particles (100 nm-1 μm) formed by outward blebbing of plasma membrane called microvesicles (MVs); exosomes and MVs are collectively known as extracellular vesicles (EVs). The bioactive molecules and factors found in secretome are of various types, including cytokines, chemokines, cytoskeletal proteins, integrins, growth factors, angiogenic mediators, hormones, metabolites, and regulatory nucleic acid molecules. As expected, the secretome performs different biological functions, such as immunomodulation, tissue replenishment, cellular homeostasis, besides possessing anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects. This review highlights the current advances in research on the WJ-MSCs' secretome and its prospective clinical applications.

Nephroprotective effect of AT-MSCs against cisplatin-induced EMT is improved by azilsartan via attenuating oxidative stress and TGF-β/Smad signaling

The nephrotoxicity of cisplatin (CIS) is a significant complication that challenges its clinical applicability. The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) may be included in the pathogenesis of CIS-evoked nephrotoxicity. Therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate, for the first time, the possible protective effect of AZL and/or AT-MSCs against CIS-induced EMT in rats on molecular bases. Fifty-four healthy Wistar male albino rats were used in this study. Different biochemical markers of kidney function as well as oxidative stress parameters were investigated. Additionally, renal histopathological study was performed. The expression of EMT-related proteins and genes was evaluated by western blotting and qRT-PCR. CIS markedly increased SCr, BUN, uric acid and renal MDA levels, with concomitant decrease in serum total protein, renal GSH level and SOD activity. Furthermore, it suppressed the expression of Cdh1 gene, increased the α-SMA, Acta2, Cdh2 and Vim genes expression, down regulated the expression of E-cad protein and up-regulated the α-SMA, TGF-β1, p-Smad2/3 and Snail proteins expression. Kidney tissues showed severe histopathological alterations and extensive collagen accumulation. Conversely, the treatment with either AZL or AT-MSCs significantly attenuated these alterations caused by CIS. Interestingly, the combined therapy of AZL and AT-MSCs has a superior ameliorative effect than AT-MSCs alone. In conclusion, this study, for the first time, revealed that AZL and/ or AT-MSCs successfully ameliorated the CIS-induced EMT via the inhibition of oxidative stress and TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway. Intriguingly, AZL enhanced the effect of AT-MSCs making them promising agents for kidney protection against CIS-induced EMT.

Vincamine Modulates the Effect of Pantoprazole in Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury by Attenuating MAPK and Apoptosis Signaling Pathways

Pantoprazole has an antioxidant function against reactive oxygen species (ROS). Vincamine, a herbal candidate, is an indole alkaloid of clinical use against brain sclerosis. The aim of the present experiment is to evaluate, on a molecular level for the first time, the value of vincamine in addition to pantoprazole in treating experimentally induced renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). One-hundred-and-twenty-eight healthy male Wistar albino rats were included. Serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and malondialdehyde levels were assessed. ELISA was used to estimate the pro-inflammatory cytokines. The expression of Bcl-2 and Bax genes was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR. ERK1/2, JNK1/2, p38, cleaved caspase-3, and NF-κB proteins expressions were estimated using western blot assay. The kidneys were also histopathologically studied. The IRI resulted in impaired cellular functions with increased creatinine, urea nitrogen, malondialdehyde, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β serum levels, and up-regulated NF-ĸB, JNK1/2, ERK1/2, p38, and cleaved caspase-3 proteins. Furthermore, it down-regulated the expression of the Bcl-2 gene and upregulated the Bax gene. The treatment with vincamine, in addition to pantoprazole multiple doses, significantly alleviated the biochemical and histopathological changes more than pantoprazole or vincamine alone, whether the dose is single or multiple, declaring their synergistic effect. In conclusion, vincamine with pantoprazole multiple doses mitigated the renal IRI through the inhibition of apoptosis, attenuation of the extracellular signaling pathways through proinflammatory cytokines’ levels, and suppression of the MAPK (ERK1/2, JNK, p38)–NF-κB intracellular signaling pathway.

Othman E, Saad Eldien HM, Yoshida T. Preconditioning of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem-Like Cells with Eugenol Potentiates Their Migration and Proliferation In Vitro and Therapeutic Abilities in Rat Hepatic Fibrosis

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have considerable therapeutic abilities in various disorders, including hepatic fibrosis. They may be affected with different culture conditions. This study investigated, on molecular basics, the effect of pretreatment with eugenol on the characteristics of adipose tissue-derived MSCs (ASCs) in vitro and the implication of eugenol preconditioning on the in vivo therapeutic abilities of ASCs against CCl₄-induced hepatic fibrosis in rats. The effect of eugenol on ASCs was assessed using viability, scratch migration and sphere formation assays. Expressions of genes and proteins were estimated by immunofluorescence or qRT-PCR. For the in vivo investigations, rats were divided into four groups: the normal control group, fibrotic (CCl₄) group, CCl₄+ASCs group and CCl₄ + eugenol-preconditioned ASCs (CCl₄+E-ASCs) group. Eugenol affected the viability of ASCs in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Eugenol improved their self-renewal, proliferation and migration abilities and significantly increased their expression of c-Met, reduced expression 1 (Rex1), octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4) and nanog genes. Furthermore, E-ASCs showed more of a homing ability than ASCs and improved the serum levels of ALT, AST, albumin, total bilirubin and hyaluronic acid more efficient than ASCs in treating CCl₄-induced hepatic fibrosis, which was confirmed with histopathology. More interestingly, compared to the CCl₄+ASCs group, CCl₄+E-ASCs group showed a lower expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), cluster of differentiation 163 (CD163) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) genes and higher expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and MMP-13 genes. This study, for the first time, revealed that eugenol significantly improved the self-renewal, migration and proliferation characteristics of ASCs, in vitro. In addition, we demonstrated that eugenol-preconditioning significantly enhanced the therapeutic abilities of the injected ASCs against CCl₄-induced hepatic fibrosis.

AT-MSCs Antifibrotic Activity is Improved by Eugenol through Modulation of TGF-β/Smad Signaling Pathway in Rats

For hepatic failure, stem cell transplantation has been chosen as an alternative therapy, especially for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of eugenol (EUG) on the in vivo antifibrotic activity of adipose tissue-derived MSCs (AT-MSCs) and the underlying mechanism. After characterization of MSCs, rats were divided into five groups, Group 1 (normal control), Group 2 (CCl₄), Group 3 (CCl₄ + AT-MSCs), Group 4 (CCl₄ + EUG) and Group 5 (CCl₄ + AT-MSCs + EUG). Biochemical and histopathological investigations were performed. Furthermore, expression of type 1 collagen, α-SMA, TGF-β1, Smad3 and P-Smad3 was estimated. Compared to the single treatment with AT-MSCs, the combination treatment of the fibrotic rats with AT-MSCs and EUG significantly improved the plasma fibrinogen concentration, IL-10 level and proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression, and also significantly decreased the serum levels of liver enzymes, IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, type III collagen, hyaluronic acid, hydroxyproline and the TGF-β growth factor. Furthermore, the combination treatment significantly decreased the hepatic expression of fibrotic markers genes (Type 1 collagen and α-SMA) and proteins (α-SMA, TGF-β1 and phospho-Smad3) more than the treatment with AT-MSCs alone. We demonstrated that the combination treatment with EUG and AT-MSCs strongly inhibited the advancement of CCl₄-induced hepatic fibrosis, compared with AT-MSCs alone, through TGF-β/Smad pathway inhibition. This approach is completely novel, so more investigations are necessary to improve our perception of the underlying molecular mechanisms accountable for the effects of EUG on the antifibrotic potential of AT-MSCs.

Periostin expression and characters of human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells were aberrantly affected by in vitro cultivation

Background

Human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (AD-MSCs) have been under focus in regenerative medicine since their discovery as a suitable source of MSCs. AD-MSCs are heterogeneous cells and exhibit variations in population doubling time, morphology and proliferative capacity. This study investigated if human AD-MSCs are developing, during in vitro long-term cultivation, in an unwanted or aberrant way.

Methods

This study monitored AD-MSCs during their in vitro culture till the tenth passage investigating proliferation kinetics, DNA index and surface markers expression. Also, periostin gene expression was examined.

Results

The proliferation capacity and colony forming unit were decreased after passage 6 and the population doubling time was increased. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that newly cultivated population strongly expressed MSCs markers, furthermore, reduction of CD105 expression appeared in passage 5 onwards, the later was associated with significant increase in expression of CD34 (a hematopoietic cell marker). Also, reduction of CD73 and CD90 expression was observed from passage 8. Furthermore, during the first six passages, periostin expression was significantly unchanged, with significant upregulation in late passages.

Conclusions

Long-term cultivation of human AD-MSCs changed their characters in an aberrant way and the first four passages might be the most appropriate passages for therapy. More investigation and understanding of these variations are needed to help in standardizing the expansion of MSCs-based therapies.

Multi-lineage differentiation of human umbilical cord Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stromal Cells mediates changes in the expression profile of stemness markers

Wharton's Jelly- derived Mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) have gained interest as an alternative source of stem cells for regenerative medicine because of their potential for self-renewal, differentiation and unique immunomodulatory properties. Although many studies have characterized various WJ-MSCs biologically, the expression profiles of the commonly used stemness markers have not yet been addressed. In this study, WJ-MSCs were isolated and characterized for stemness and surface markers expression. Flow cytometry, immunofluorescence and qRT-PCR analysis revealed predominant expression of CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, CD105 and CD166 in WJ-MSCs, while the hematopoietic and endothelial markers were absent. Differential expression of CD 29, CD90, CD105 and CD166 following adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic induction was observed. Furthermore, our results demonstrated a reduction in CD44 and CD73 expressions in response to the tri-lineage differentiation induction, suggesting that they can be used as reliable stemness markers, since their expression was associated with undifferentiated WJ-MSCs only.

In vitro augmentation of mesenchymal stem cells viability in stressful microenvironments : In vitro augmentation of mesenchymal stem cells viability

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are under intensive investigation for use in cell-based therapies because their differentiation abilities, immunomodulatory effects, and homing properties offer potential for significantly augmenting regenerative capacity of many tissues. Nevertheless, major impediments to their therapeutic application, such as low proliferation and survival rates remain as obstacles to broad clinical use of MSCs. Another major challenge to evolution of MSC-based therapies is functional degradation of these cells as a result of their exposure to oxidative stressors during isolation. Indeed, oxidative stress-mediated MSC depletion occurs due to inflammatory processes associated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and expression of pro-apoptotic factors, and the microenvironment of damaged tissue in patients receiving MSC therapy is typically therapeutic not favorable to their survival. For this reason, any strategies that enhance the viability and proliferative capacity of MSCs associated with their therapeutic use are of great value. Here, recent strategies used by various researchers to improve MSC allograft function are reviewed, with particular focus on in vitro conditioning of MSCs in preparation for clinical application. Preconditioning, genetic manipulation, and optimization of MSC culture conditions are some examples of the methodologies described in the present article, along with novel strategies such as treatment of MSCs with secretome and MSC-derived microvesicles. This topic material is likely to find value as a guide for both research and clinical use of MSC allografts and for improvement of the value that use of these cells brings to health care.

Induction of multipotency in umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells cultivated under suspension conditions

Due to the limitations in the clinical application of embryonic stem cells (ESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are now much more interesting for cell-based therapy. Although MSCs have several advantages, they are not capable of differentiating to all three embryonic layers (three germ layers) without cultivation under specific induction media. Hence, improvement of MSCs for cell therapy purposes is under intensive study now. In this study, we isolated MSCs from umbilical cord tissue at the single-cell level, by treatment with trypsin, followed by cultivation under suspension conditions to form a colony. These colonies were trypsin resistant, capable of self-renewal differentiation to the three germ layers without any induction, and they were somewhat similar to ESC colonies. The cells were able to grow in both adherent and suspension culture conditions, expressed both the MSCs markers, especially CD105, and the multipotency markers, i.e., SSEA-3, and had a limited lifespan. The cells were expanded under simple culture conditions at the single-cell level and were homogenous. Further and complementary studies are required to understand how trypsin-tolerant mesenchymal stem cells are established. However, our study suggested non-embryonic resources for future cell-based therapy.

Positive selection of Wharton's jelly-derived CD105(+) cells by MACS technique and their subsequent cultivation under suspension culture condition: A simple, versatile culturing method to enhance the multipotentiality of mesenchymal stem cells

OBJECTIVE

Wharton's jelly (WJ), an appropriate source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), has been shown to have a wide array of therapeutic applications. However, the WJ-derived MSCs are very heterogeneous and have limited expression of pluripotency markers. Hence, improvement of their culture condition would promote the efficiency of WJ-MSCs. This study aims to employ a simple method of cultivation to obtain WJ-MSCs which express more pluripotency markers.

METHODS

CD105(+) cells were separated by magnetic-associated (activated) cell sorting from umbilical cord mucous tissue. CD105(+) cells were added to Methocult medium diluted in α-minimum essential medium (α-MEM) and seeded in poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (poly-HEMA)-coated plates for suspension culture preparation. Differentiation capacity of isolated cells was evaluated in the presence of differentiation-inducing media. The expression of pluripotency markers such as Oct3/4, Nanog, and Sox2 was also analyzed by RT-PCR and western blot techniques. Moreover, immunocytochemistry was performed to detect alpha-smooth muscle actin (antigene) (α-SMA) protein.

RESULTS

WJ-MSCs grew homogeneously and formed colonies when cultured under suspension culture conditions (Non-adhesive WJ-MSCs). They maintained their growth ability in both adherent and suspension cultures for several passages. Non-adhesive WJ-MSCs expressed Oct3/4, Nanog, and Sox2 both at transcriptional and translational levels in comparison to those cultured in conventional adherent cultures. They also expressed α-SMA protein.

DISCUSSION

In this study, we isolated WJ-MSCs using a slightly modified culture condition. Our simple non-genetic method resulted in a homogeneous population of WJ-MSCs, which highly expressed pluripotency markers.

CONCLUSION

In the future, more multipotent WJ-MSCs can be harnessed as a non-embryonic source of MSCs in MSC-based cell therapy.