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Cavallini C, Olivi E, Tassinari R, Zannini C, Ragazzini G, Marcuzzi M, Taglioli V, Ventura C. Deer antler stem cell niche: An interesting perspective. World J Stem Cells 2024; 16:479-485. [PMID: 38817324 PMCID: PMC11135255 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v16.i5.479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Revised: 04/09/2024] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/24/2024] Open
Abstract
In recent years, there has been considerable exploration into methods aimed at enhancing the regenerative capacity of transplanted and/or tissue-resident cells. Biomaterials, in particular, have garnered significant interest for their potential to serve as natural scaffolds for cells. In this editorial, we provide commentary on the study by Wang et al, in a recently published issue of World J Stem Cells, which investigates the use of a decellularized xenogeneic extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from antler stem cells for repairing osteochondral defects in rat knee joints. Our focus lies specifically on the crucial role of biological scaffolds as a strategy for augmenting stem cell potential and regenerative capabilities, thanks to the establishment of a favorable microenvironment (niche). Stem cell differentiation heavily depends on exposure to intrinsic properties of the ECM, including its chemical and protein composition, as well as the mechanical forces it can generate. Collectively, these physicochemical cues contribute to a bio-instructive signaling environment that offers tissue-specific guidance for achieving effective repair and regeneration. The interest in mechanobiology, often conceptualized as a form of "structural memory", is steadily gaining more validation and momentum, especially in light of findings such as these.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Cavallini
- National Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Stem Cell Engineering, National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems - Eldor Lab, Bologna 40128, Italy
- Eldor Lab, Bologna 40128, Italy
| | | | | | | | | | - Martina Marcuzzi
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), University of Bologna, Bologna 40138, Italy
| | | | - Carlo Ventura
- National Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Stem Cell Engineering, National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems - Eldor Lab, Bologna 40128, Italy.
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Liu Q, Li J, Chang J, Guo Y, Wen D. The characteristics and medical applications of antler stem cells. Stem Cell Res Ther 2023; 14:225. [PMID: 37649124 PMCID: PMC10468909 DOI: 10.1186/s13287-023-03456-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Antlers are the only fully regenerable mammalian appendages whose annual renewal is initiated by antler stem cells (ASCs), defined as a specialized type of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with embryonic stem cell properties. ASCs possess the same biological features as MSCs, including the capacity for self-renewal and multidirectional differentiation, immunomodulatory functions, and the maintenance of stem cell characteristics after multiple passages. Several preclinical studies have shown that ASCs exhibit promising potential in wound healing, bone repair, osteoarthritis, anti-tissue fibrosis, anti-aging, and hair regeneration. Medical applications based on ASCs and ASC-derived molecules provide a new source of stem cells and therapeutic modalities for regenerative medicine. This review begins with a brief description of antler regeneration and the role of ASCs. Then, the properties and advantages of ASCs are described. Finally, medical research advances regarding ASCs are summarized, and the prospects and challenges of ASCs are highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Liu
- Department of Colorectal and Anal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Jiannan Li
- Department of Colorectal and Anal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Jinghui Chang
- Department of Colorectal and Anal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Yu Guo
- Department of Colorectal and Anal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Dacheng Wen
- Department of Gastrointestinal Nutrition and Hernia Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
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Jing H, Sun X, Li M, Peng J, Gu X, Xiong J. Exogenous Melatonin Activating Nuclear Factor E2-Related Factor 2 (Nrf2) Pathway via Melatonin Receptor to Reduce Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis in Antler Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27082515. [PMID: 35458712 PMCID: PMC9029981 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27082515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Revised: 04/09/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Antler growth depends on the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and this process may be adversely affected by oxidative stress. Melatonin (MLT) has antioxidant functions, but its role in Cervidae remains largely unknown. In this article, flow cytometry, reactive oxygen species (ROS) identification, qPCR, and other methods were used to investigate the protective mechanism of MLT in H2O2-induced oxidative stress of antler MSCs. The results showed that MLT significantly increases cell viability by relieving the oxidative stress of antler MSCs. MLT inhibits cell apoptosis by protecting mitochondrial function. We blocked the melatonin receptor with luzindole (Luz) and found that the receptor blockade significantly increases H2O2-induced hyperoxide levels and causes significant inhibition of mitochondrial function. MLT treatment activates the nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) antioxidant signaling pathway, up-regulates the expression of NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) and other genes and it could inhibit apoptosis. In contrast, the melatonin receptor blockade down-regulates the expression of Nrf2 pathway-related genes, but significantly up-regulates the expression of apoptotic genes. It was indicated that MLT activates the Nrf2 pathway through the melatonin receptor and alleviates H2O2-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in antler MSCs. This study provides a theoretical basis for further studying the oxidative stress and antioxidant process of antler MSCs and, thereby, increasing antler yields.
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Wang D, Berg D, Ba H, Sun H, Wang Z, Li C. Deer antler stem cells are a novel type of cells that sustain full regeneration of a mammalian organ-deer antler. Cell Death Dis 2019; 10:443. [PMID: 31165741 PMCID: PMC6549167 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-019-1686-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2019] [Revised: 04/19/2019] [Accepted: 05/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Deer antlers are extraordinary mammalian organs that can fully regenerate annually. Antler renewal is a stem cell-based epimorphic process and antler stem (AS) cells can initiate de novo generation of antlers in postnatal mammals. However, although being called stem cells, the AS cells have not been characterized at molecular level based on the stem cell criteria. Comprehensive characterization of the AS cells would undoubtedly help to decipher the mechanism underlying the full regeneration of deer antlers, the only case of stem cell-based epimorphic regeneration in mammals. In the present study, three types of AS cells (antlerogenic periosteal cells APCs, for initial pedicle and first antler formation; pedicle periosteal cells PPC, for annual antler regeneration; and reserve mesenchyme cells RMCs, for rapid antler growth), were isolated for comprehensive molecular characterization. A horn-growth-related gene, RXFP2, was found to be expressed only in AS cells lineages but not in the facial periosteal cells (FPCs, locates geographically in the vicinity of the APCs or PPCs), suggesting the RXFP2 might be a specific marker for the AS cell lineage in deer. Our results demonstrated that AS cells expressed classic MSC markers including surface markers CD73, CD90, CD105 and Stro-1. They also expressed some of the markers including Tert, Nestin, S100A4, nucleostemin and C-Myc, suggesting that they have some attributes of the ESCs. Microinjection of male APC into deer blastocysts resulted in one female foetus (110 days gestation) recovered with obvious pedicle primordia with both male and female genotype detected in the ovary. In conclusion, the AS cells should be defined as MSCs but with partial attributes of ESCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Datao Wang
- Institute of Special Wild Economic Animals and Plants, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 4899 Juye Street, Changchun, 130112, China
| | - Debbie Berg
- AgResearch Ltd, Ruakura Agricultural Centre, 10 Bisley Road, Hamilton, 3214, New Zealand
| | - Hengxing Ba
- Institute of Special Wild Economic Animals and Plants, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 4899 Juye Street, Changchun, 130112, China
| | - Hongmei Sun
- Institute of Special Wild Economic Animals and Plants, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 4899 Juye Street, Changchun, 130112, China
| | - Zhen Wang
- Institute of Special Wild Economic Animals and Plants, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 4899 Juye Street, Changchun, 130112, China
| | - Chunyi Li
- Institute of Special Wild Economic Animals and Plants, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 4899 Juye Street, Changchun, 130112, China. .,Changchun Sci-Tech University, Changchun, 130600, China.
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Ker DFE, Wang D, Sharma R, Zhang B, Passarelli B, Neff N, Li C, Maloney W, Quake S, Yang YP. Identifying deer antler uhrf1 proliferation and s100a10 mineralization genes using comparative RNA-seq. Stem Cell Res Ther 2018; 9:292. [PMID: 30376879 PMCID: PMC6208050 DOI: 10.1186/s13287-018-1027-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Revised: 08/24/2018] [Accepted: 09/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Deer antlers are bony structures that re-grow at very high rates, making them an attractive model for studying rapid bone regeneration. METHODS To identify the genes that are involved in this fast pace of bone growth, an in vitro RNA-seq model that paralleled the sharp differences in bone growth between deer antlers and humans was established. Subsequently, RNA-seq (> 60 million reads per library) was used to compare transcriptomic profiles. Uniquely expressed deer antler proliferation as well as mineralization genes were identified via a combination of differential gene expression and subtraction analysis. Thereafter, the physiological relevance as well as contributions of these identified genes were determined by immunofluorescence, gene overexpression, and gene knockdown studies. RESULTS Cell characterization studies showed that in vitro-cultured deer antler-derived reserve mesenchyme (RM) cells exhibited high osteogenic capabilities and cell surface markers similar to in vivo counterparts. Under identical culture conditions, deer antler RM cells proliferated faster (8.6-11.7-fold increase in cell numbers) and exhibited increased osteogenic differentiation (17.4-fold increase in calcium mineralization) compared to human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), paralleling in vivo conditions. Comparative RNA-seq identified 40 and 91 previously unknown and uniquely expressed fallow deer (FD) proliferation and mineralization genes, respectively, including uhrf1 and s100a10. Immunofluorescence studies showed that uhrf1 and s100a10 were expressed in regenerating deer antlers while gene overexpression and gene knockdown studies demonstrated the proliferation contributions of uhrf1 and mineralization capabilities of s100a10. CONCLUSION Using a simple, in vitro comparative RNA-seq approach, novel genes pertinent to fast bony antler regeneration were identified and their proliferative/osteogenic function was verified via gene overexpression, knockdown, and immunostaining. This combinatorial approach may be applicable to discover unique gene contributions between any two organisms for a given phenomenon-of-interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dai Fei Elmer Ker
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Dan Wang
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Department of Stomatology, Tenth People’s Hospital of Tongji University, 301 Yanchang Road, Shanghai, 200072 China
| | - Rashmi Sharma
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Shriram Center 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Bin Zhang
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Ben Passarelli
- Scientific Computing Core, Calico Life Sciences LLC, 1170 Veterans Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080 USA
| | - Norma Neff
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Shriram Center 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Chunyi Li
- State Key Lab for Molecular Biology of Special Economic Animals, 4899 Juye Street, Changchun, 130112 Jilin China
| | - William Maloney
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Stephen Quake
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Shriram Center 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, 348 Via Pueblo Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 4000 Jones Bridge Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 USA
| | - Yunzhi Peter Yang
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Shriram Center 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
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