Overexpression of miR-19a and miR-20a in iPS-MSCs preserves renal function of chronic kidney disease with acute ischaemia-reperfusion injury in rat

Holistic expression of miR-17-92 cluster in obesity, kidney diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes

miR-17-92 cluster encodes six micro RNAs (miRNAs) and plays a crucial role in the regulation of various cellular processes. Aberrant expression of this cluster may result in the onset of several diseases. Initially, the role of miR-17-92 cluster in tumorigenesis was discovered but recent research has also uncovered its role in other diseases. Members of the cluster may serve as potential biomarkers in the prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment of several diseases and their complications. In this article, we have reviewed the recent research carried out on the expression pattern of miR-17-92 cluster in non-communicable diseases i.e., obesity, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), kidney diseases (KD) and diabetes mellitus (DM). We examined miR-17-92 role in pathological processes and their potential importance as biomarkers. Each member of the cluster miR-17-92 was upregulated in obesity. miR-18a, miR-19b-3p, miR20a, and miR92a were significantly upregulated in CVD. An equal fraction of the cluster was dysregulated (upregulated and downregulated) in diabetes; however, miR-17-92 was downregulated in most studies on CKD.

Recent advances in pre-conditioned mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSCs) therapy in organ failure; a comprehensive review of preclinical studies

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs)-based therapy brings the reassuring capability to regenerative medicine through their self-renewal and multilineage potency. Also, they secret a diversity of mediators, which are complicated in moderation of deregulated immune responses, and yielding angiogenesis in vivo. Nonetheless, MSCs may lose biological performance after procurement and prolonged expansion in vitro. Also, following transplantation and migration to target tissue, they encounter a harsh milieu accompanied by death signals because of the lack of proper tensegrity structure between the cells and matrix. Accordingly, pre-conditioning of MSCs is strongly suggested to upgrade their performances in vivo, leading to more favored transplantation efficacy in regenerative medicine. Indeed, MSCs ex vivo pre-conditioning by hypoxia, inflammatory stimulus, or other factors/conditions may stimulate their survival, proliferation, migration, exosome secretion, and pro-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory characteristics in vivo. In this review, we deliver an overview of the pre-conditioning methods that are considered a strategy for improving the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs in organ failures, in particular, renal, heart, lung, and liver.

Liquid Biopsies Poorly miRror Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is the rapid reduction in renal function. It is often difficult to detect at an early stage. Biofluid microRNAs (miRs) have been proposed as novel biomarkers due to their regulatory role in renal pathophysiology. The goal of this study was to determine the overlap in AKI miRNA profiles in the renal cortex, urine, and plasma samples collected from a rat model of ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-induced AKI. Bilateral renal ischemia was induced by clamping the renal pedicles for 30 min, followed by reperfusion. Urine was then collected over 24 h, followed by terminal blood and tissue collection for small RNA profiling. Differentially expressed (IR vs. sham) miRs within the urine and renal cortex sample types demonstrated a strong correlation in normalized abundance regardless of injury (IR and sham: R2 = 0.8710 and 0.9716, respectively). Relatively few miRs were differentially expressed in multiple samples. Further, there were no differentially expressed miRs with clinically relevant sequence conservation common between renal cortex and urine samples. This project highlights the need for a comprehensive analysis of potential miR biomarkers, including analysis of pathological tissues and biofluids, with the goal of identifying the cellular origin of altered miRs. Analysis at earlier timepoints is needed to further evaluate clinical potential.

miR-20a Overexpression in Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Promotes Therapeutic Efficacy in Murine Lupus Nephritis by Regulating Autophagy

Objective

Lupus nephritis is the most common and severe complication of systemic lupus erythematosus. The aim of our study was to investigate the efficacy of miR-20a overexpressing adipose-derived stem cell (ADSC) transplantation in murine lupus nephritis (LN) and explore potential molecular mechanisms.

Methods

Mouse ADSCs were transfected with a miR-20a lentiviral vector to obtain miR-20a overexpression ADSCs (miR-20a-ADSCs). We first observed the influence of miR-20a on ADSC viability and apoptosis in vitro. B6.MRL/lpr mice were administered ADSC/miR-20a-ADSC intravenously every week from age 30 to 33 weeks, and the lupus and normal control groups received PBS on the same schedule.

Results

miR-20a expression increased in miR-20a-ADSC-derived exosomes, and miR-20a overexpression promoted ADSC proliferation and inhibited apoptosis. Compared with ADSCs, miR-20a-ADSC treatment significantly improved serologic and histologic abnormalities, as evidenced by reduced serum creatinine, anti-dsDNA antibody, 24 h urine protein levels, nephritis scores, and C3/IgG deposits. Furthermore, miR-20a-ADSC treatment resulted in downregulated Akt, mTOR, and p62 expression and upregulated miR-20a, Beclin 1, and LC3 II/I expression compared with ADSC treatment. After treatment with miR-20a-ADSC, a significant increase in the number of autophagosomes within podocytes was observed, along with upregulated expression of podocin and nephrin, compared with the ADSC group.

Conclusions

miR-20a-ADSC transplantation prevents the development of lupus nephritis and significantly ameliorates already-established disease, and its mechanism is related to autophagy by targeting the miR-20a-regulated mTOR pathway.

Double overexpression of miR-19a and miR-20a in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells effectively preserves the left ventricular function in dilated cardiomyopathic rat

BACKGROUND

This study tested the hypothesis that double overexpression of miR-19a and miR-20a (dOex-mIRs) in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS)-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) effectively preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) (i.e., induced by doxorubicin) rat.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In vitro study was categorized into groups G1 (iPS-MSC), G2 (iPS-MSC^dOex-mIRs), G3 (iPS-MSC + H₂O₂/100uM), and G4 (iPS-MSC^dOex-mIRs + H₂O₂/100uM). The in vitro results showed the cell viability was significantly lower in G3 than in G1 and G2, and that was reversed in G4 but it showed no difference between G1/G2 at time points of 6 h/24 h/48 h, whereas the flow cytometry of intra-cellular/mitochondrial oxidative stress (DCFA/mitoSOX) and protein expressions of mitochondrial-damaged (cytosolic-cytochrome-C/DRP1/Cyclophilin-D), oxidative-stress (NOX-1/NOX2), apoptotic (cleaved-caspase-3/PARP), fibrotic (p-Smad3/TGF-ß), and autophagic (ratio of LC3B-II/LC3BI) biomarkers exhibited an opposite pattern of cell-proliferation rate (all p< 0.001). Adult-male SD rats (n=32) were equally divided into groups 1 (sham-operated control), 2 (DCM), 3 (DCM + iPS-MSCs/1.2 × 10⁶ cells/administered by post-28 day's DCM induction), and 4 (DCM + iPS-MSC^dOex-mIRs/1.2 × 10⁶ cells/administered by post-28 day's DCM induction) and euthanized by day 60 after DCM induction. LV myocardium protein expressions of oxidative-stress signaling (p22-phox/NOX-1/NOX-2/ASK1/p-MMK4,7/p-JNK1,2/p-cJUN), upstream (TLR-4/MAL/MyD88/TRIF/TRAM/ TFRA6/IKK_α/ß/NF-κB) and downstream (TNF-α/IL-1ß/MMP-9) inflammatory signalings, apoptotic (cleaved-PARP/mitochondrial-Bax), fibrotic (Smad3/TGF-ß), mitochondrial-damaged (cytosolic-cytochrome-C/DRP1/cyclophilin-D), and autophagic (beclin1/Atg5) biomarkers were highest in group 2, lowest in group 1 and significantly lower in group 4 than in group 3, whereas the LVEF exhibited an opposite pattern of oxidative stress (all p< 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

iPS-MSC^dOex-mIRs therapy was superior to iPS-MSC therapy for preserving LV function in DCM rat.

Overexpression of miR-19a and miR-20a in iPS-MSCs preserves renal function of chronic kidney disease with acute ischaemia-reperfusion injury in rat

This study tested the hypothesis that therapy with double overexpression of miR‐19a‐3p and miR‐20a‐5p (miR^DOE) to human inducible pluripotent stem cell–derived mesenchymal stem cells (iPS‐MSCs) was superior to iPS‐MSCs alone for preserving renal function in rat with pre‐existing chronic kidney disease (CKD), followed by ischaemia‐reperfusion (IR) injury. In vitro study demonstrated that the protein expressions of oxidative stress (NOX‐1/NOX‐2/NOX4/oxidized protein/p22phox), inflammatory downstream signalling (TLR2&4/MyD88/TRAF6/IKK‐ß/p‐NFκB/IL‐1ß/IL‐6/MMP‐9) and cell apoptosis/death signalling (cleaved caspase‐3/mitochondrial Bax/p‐ERKs/p‐JNK/p‐p38) at time‐points of 24‐hour/48‐hour cell cultures were significantly increased in p‐Cresol‐treated NRK‐52E cells than in the control that was significantly reversed by miR‐19a‐3p‐transfected iPS‐MSC (all P < .001). Animals were categorized into group 1 (sham‐operated control), group 2 (CKD‐IR), group 3 (CKD‐IR + oligo‐miR^DOE of iPS‐MSCs/6.0 ×10⁵/intra‐renal artery transfusion/3 hours after IR procedure), group 4 (CKD‐IR + iPS‐MSCs) and group 5 (CKD‐IR + miR^DOE of iPS‐MSCs/6.0 ×10^5/intra‐renal artery transfusion/3 hour after IR procedure). By day 35, the creatinine/BUN levels were lowest in group 1, highest in group 2 and significantly lower in group 5 than in groups 3 and 4 (all P < .0001) but they showed no difference between the latter two groups. The protein expressions of oxidative stress, inflammatory downstream signalling and cell apoptosis/death signalling exhibited an identical pattern of creatinine level among the five groups (all P < .00001). Also, the microscopic findings demonstrated that the kidney injury score/fibrotic area/number of inflammatory cells (CD14+/CD68+) exhibited an identical pattern of creatine level (all P < .0001). The miR^DOE of iPS‐MSCs was superior to iPS‐MSCs for preserving the residual kidney function and architecture in CKD‐IR rat.