Extracellular vesicles from human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells repair organ damage caused by cadmium poisoning in a medaka model

Physicochemical Studies on Amino Acid Based Metallosurfactants in Combination with Phospholipid

Dicarboxylate metallosurfactants (AASM), synthesized by mixing N-dodecyl aminomalonate, -aspartate and -glutamate with CaCl2, MnCl2 and CdCl2, were characterized by XRD, FTIR, and NMR spectroscopy. Layered structures, formed by metallosurfactants, were evidenced from differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analyses. Solvent-spread monolayer of AASM in combination with soyphosphatidylcholine (SPC) and cholesterol (CHOL) were studied using Langmuir surface balance. With increasing mole fraction of AASM mean molecular area increased and passed through maxima at ~60 mol% of AASMs, indicating molecular packing reorganization. Systems with 20 and 60 mol% AASM exhibited positive deviations from ideal behavior signifying repulsive interaction between the AASM and SPC, while synergistic interactions were established from the negative deviation at other combinations. Dynamic surface elasticity increased with increasing surface pressure signifying formation of rigid monolayer. Transition of monolayer from gaseous to liquid expanded to liquid condensed state was established by Brewster angle microscopic studies. Stability of the hybrid vesicles, formed by AASM+SPC+CHOL, were established by monitoring their size, zeta potential and polydispersity index values over 100 days. Size and spherical morphology of hybrid vesicles were confirmed by transmission electron microscopic studies. Biocompatibility of the hybrid vesicles were established by cytotoxicity studies revealing their possible applications in drug delivery and imaging.

Future embracing: exosomes driving a revolutionary approach to the diagnosis and treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy

Membranous nephropathy (MN) is a leading cause of nephrotic syndrome in adults and is associated with high rates of end-stage renal disease. Early detection and precise interventions are crucial for improving patient prognosis and quality of life. However, the current diagnosis primarily relies on renal biopsies and traditional biomarkers, which have limitations. Additionally, targeted therapeutic strategies are lacking. Exosomes, small vesicles that facilitate intercellular communication, have emerged as potential noninvasive diagnostic markers due to their stability, diverse cargo, and rapid detectability. They also hold promise as carriers for gene and drug delivery, presenting innovative opportunities in renal disease prognosis and treatment. However, research on exosomes in the context of idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) remains limited, with a focus on exploring urinary exosomes as IMN markers. In this review, we summarize the current status of MN diagnosis and treatment, highlight the fundamental characteristics of exosomes, and discuss recent advancements in their application to IMN diagnosis and therapy. We provide insights into the clinical prospects of exosomes in IMN and acknowledge potential challenges. This article aims to offer forward-looking insights into the future of exosome-mediated IMN diagnosis and treatment, indicating a revolutionary transformation in this field.

Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Human Bone Marrow Stem Cells Inhibit Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cell Growth by Inhibiting MAPK Pathway via the miR-29b-3p/GDF15 Axis

INTRODUCTION

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a common hematologic neoplastic disease. This study discussed the effect of extracellular vesicles (EVs) released from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on ALL cells and the mechanism.

METHODS

BMSCs-EVs were isolated by differential centrifugation and identified. The effect of BMSCs-EVs on ALL cell proliferation and apoptosis was evaluated. The expression of miR-29b-3p in ALL cells and EVs was detected. The uptake of EVs by ALL cells was observed. The effect of miR-29b-3p on ALL cell proliferation and apoptosis was assessed after silencing miR-29b-3p. The targeting relation of miR-29b-3p and GDF15 was analyzed by bioinformatics website and dual-luciferase assay. The role of GDF15 in proliferation and apoptosis of ALL cells was further confirmed, and Western blot assay was performed to measure MAPK pathway-related protein levels.

RESULTS

BMSC-derived EVs inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis of ALL cells, as shown by the up-regulation of caspase-3 and Bax expressions and down-regulation of Bcl-2 expression. EVs carried miR-29b-3p into ALL cells, upregulated miR-29b-3p expression in ALL cells, and inhibited GDF15 expression. Silencing of miR-29b-3p or overexpression of GDF15 partially reversed the effect of EVs. EVs inhibited the MAPK pathway through the miR-29b-3p/GDF15 axis.

CONCLUSION

BMSCs-EVs carried miR-29b-3p into ALL cells, upregulated miR-29b-3p, and inhibited GDF15 to suppress the MAPK pathway and further inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of ALL cells.

Different Sourced Extracellular Vesicles and Their Potential Applications in Clinical Treatments

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) include a heterogeneous group of natural cell-derived nanostructures that are increasingly regarded as promising biotherapeutic agents and drug delivery vehicles in human medicine. Desirable intrinsic properties of EVs including the ability to bypass natural membranous barriers and to deliver their unique biomolecular cargo to specific cell populations position them as fiercely competitive alternatives for currently available cell therapies and artificial drug delivery platforms. EVs with distinct characteristics can be released from various cell types into the extracellular environment as a means of transmitting bioactive components and altering the status of the target cell. Despite the existence of a large number of preclinical studies confirming the therapeutic efficacy of different originated EVs for treating several pathological conditions, in this review, we first provide a brief overview of EV biophysical properties with an emphasis on their intrinsic therapeutic benefits over cell-based therapies and synthetic delivery systems. Next, we describe in detail different EVs derived from distinct cell sources, compare their advantages and disadvantages, and recapitulate their therapeutic effects on various human disorders to highlight the progress made in harnessing EVs for clinical applications. Finally, knowledge gaps and concrete hurdles that currently hinder the clinical translation of EV therapies are debated with a futuristic perspective.

Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles for Chronic Kidney Disease: Are We There Yet?

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are the most utilized cell type for cellular therapy, partly due to their important proliferative potential and ability to differentiate into various cell types. MSCs produce large amounts of extracellular vesicles (EVs), which carry genetic and protein cargo to mediate MSC paracrine function. Recently, MSC-derived EVs have been successfully used in several preclinical models of chronic kidney disease. However, uncertainty remains regarding EV fate, safety, and long-term effects, which might impose important limitations on their path to clinical translation. This review discusses the therapeutic application of MSC-derived EV therapy for renal disease, with particular emphasis on potential mechanisms of kidney repair and major translational barriers. Emerging evidence indicates that the cargo of MSC-derived EVs is capable of modulating several pathways responsible for renal injury, including inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, fibrosis, and microvascular remodeling. EV-induced modulation of these pathways has been associated with important renoprotective effects in experimental studies. However, scarce clinical data are available, and several challenges need to be addressed as we move toward clinical translation, including standardization of methods for EV isolation and characterization, EV fate, duration of EV effects, and effects of cardiovascular risk factors. MSC-derived EVs have the potential to preserve renal structure and function, but further experimental and clinical evidence is needed to confirm their protective effects in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: Regenerative Potential and Challenges

Evidence suggests that stem cells exert regenerative potential via the release of extracellular vesicles. Mesenchymal stem cell extracellular vesicles (MSCEVs) offer therapeutic benefits for various pathophysiological ailments by restoring tissues. Facts suggest that MSCEV action can be potentiated by modifying the mesenchymal stem cells culturing methodology and bioengineering EVs. Limited clinical trials of MSCEVs have questioned their superiority, culturing quality, production scale-up and isolation, and administration format. Translation of preclinically successful MSCEVs into a clinical platform requires paying attention to several critical matters, such as the production technique, quantification/characterization, pharmacokinetics/targeting/transfer to the target site, and the safety profile. Keeping these issues as a priority, the present review was designed to highlight the challenges in translating preclinical MSCEV research into clinical platforms and provide evidence for the regenerative potential of MSCEVs in various conditions of the liver, kidney, heart, nervous system, bone, muscle, cartilage, and other organs/tissues.

The Chemokine Receptors Ccr5 and Cxcr6 Enhance Migration of Mesenchymal Stem Cells into the Degenerating Retina

Cell therapy approaches hold great potential for treating retinopathies, which are currently incurable. This study addresses the problem of inadequate migration and integration of transplanted cells into the host retina. To this end, we have identified the chemokines that were most upregulated during retinal degeneration and that could chemoattract mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The results were observed using a pharmacological model of ganglion/amacrine cell degeneration and a genetic model of retinitis pigmentosa, from both mice and human retinae. Remarkably, MSCs overexpressing Ccr5 and Cxcr6, which are receptors bound by a subset of the identified chemokines, displayed improved migration after transplantation in the degenerating retina. They also led to enhanced rescue of cell death and to preservation of electrophysiological function. Overall, we show that chemokines released from the degenerating retinae can drive migration of transplanted stem cells, and that overexpression of chemokine receptors can improve cell therapy-based regenerative approaches.

Exosomes in Nephropathies: A Rich Source of Novel Biomarkers

The biomarkers commonly utilized in diagnostic evaluations of kidney disease suffer from low sensitivity, especially in the early stages of renal damage. On the other hand, obtaining a renal biopsy to augment clinical decision making can lead to potentially serious complications. In order to overcome the shortcomings of currently available diagnostic tools, recent studies suggest that exosomes, cell-secreted extracellular vesicles containing a large array of active molecules to facilitate cell-to-cell communication, may represent a rich source of novel disease biomarkers. Because of their endocytic origin, exosomes carry markers typical for their parent cells, which could permit the localization of biochemical cellular alterations in specific kidney compartments. Different types of exosomes can be isolated from noninvasively obtained biofluids; however, in the context of kidney disease, evidence has emerged on the role of urinary exosomes in the diagnostic and predictive modeling of renal pathology. The current review summarizes the potential application of exosomes in the detection of acute and chronic inflammatory, metabolic, degenerative, and genetic renal diseases.

Extracellular vesicles from human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells repair organ damage caused by cadmium poisoning in a medaka model

Treatment modalities for kidney disease caused by long-term exposure to heavy metals, such as cadmium (Cd), are limited. Often, chronic, long-term environmental exposure to heavy metal is not recognized in the early stages; therefore, chelation therapy is not an effective option. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from stem cells have been demonstrated to reduce disease pathology in both acute and chronic kidney disease models. To test the ability of EVs derived from human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs) to treat Cd damage, we generated a Cd-exposed medaka model. This model develops heavy metal-induced cell damage in various organs and tissues, and shows decreased overall survival. Intravenous injection of highly purified EVs from hBM-MSCs repaired the damage to apical and basolateral membranes and mitochondria of kidney proximal tubules, glomerular podocytes, bone deformation, and improved survival. Our system also serves as a model with which to study age- and sex-dependent cell injuries of organs caused by various agents and diseases. The beneficial effects of EVs on the tissue repair process, as shown in our novel Cd-exposed medaka model, may open new broad avenues for interventional strategies.

miR-210 transferred by lung cancer cell-derived exosomes may act as proangiogenic factor in cancer-associated fibroblasts by modulating JAK2/STAT3 pathway

It has been generally believed that cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have the ability to increase the process of tumor angiogenesis. However, the potential mechanisms by which cancer-derived exosomes in lung cancer (LC) remains to be investigated. LC-derived exosomes were administrated to NIH/3T3 cells. A variety of experiments were conducted to investigate the proangiogenic factors of CAFs, including Western blot, RT-PCR, colony formation assay, tube formation assay, Matrigel plug assay et al. In addition, the impact of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway were also explored. The role of hsa-miR-210 was identified with microarray profiling and validated in vitro and in vivo assays. The target of miR-210 was screened by RNA pull down, RNA-sequencing and then verified. It was shown that LC-derived exosomes could induce cell reprogramming, thus promoting the fibroblasts transferring into CAFs. In addition, the exosomes with overexpressed miR-210 could increase the level of angiogenesis and vice versa, which suggested the miR-210 secreted by the LC-derived exosomes may initiate the CAF proangiogenic switch. According to our analysis, the miR-210 had the ability of elevating the expression of some proangiogenic factors such as MMP9, FGF2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) a (VEGFa) by activating the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, ten-eleven translocation 2 (TET2) was identified as the target of miR-210 in CAFs which has been involved in proangiogenic switch. miR-210 was overexpressed in serum exosomes of untreated non-small cell LC (NSCLC) patients. We concluded that the promotion effect of exosomal miR-210 on proangiogenic switch of CAFs may be explained by the modulation of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway and TET2 in recipient fibroblasts.

Extracellular vesicles derived from different sources of mesenchymal stem cells: therapeutic effects and translational potential

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were known to have excellent properties in cell therapy. However, the risk of immune rejection associated with cell transplant therapy hampers its use. Extracellular vesicles secreted by MSCs derived from different sources that contain therapeutic molecules such as RNA and proteins, which is a novel strategy for cell-free therapy. Recently, researches show EVs from MSCs (MSC-EVs) of different sources have special functions and effects on different diseases. Here, we collected these researches and compared them to each other. In addition, their potential and possible application in clinical treatment are described.

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Derived Extracellular Vesicles for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Applications

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are being extensively investigated for their potential in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, recent evidence suggests that the beneficial effects of MSCs may be manifest by their released extracellular vesicles (EVs); typically not requiring the administration of MSCs. This evidence, predominantly from pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo studies, suggests that MSC-EVs may exhibit substantial therapeutic properties in many pathophysiological conditions, potentially restoring an extensive range of damaged or diseased tissues and organs. These benefits of MSC EVs are apparently found, regardless of the anatomical or body fluid origin of the MSCs (and include e.g., bone marrow, adipose tissue, umbilical cord, urine, etc). Furthermore, early indications suggest that the favourable effects of MSC-EVs could be further enhanced by modifying the way in which the donor MSCs are cultured (for example, in hypoxic compared to normoxic conditions, in 3D compared to 2D culture formats) and/or if the EVs are subsequently bio-engineered (for example, loaded with specific cargo). So far, few human clinical trials of MSC-EVs have been conducted and questions remain unanswered on whether the heterogeneous population of EVs is beneficial or some specific sub-populations, how best we can culture and scale-up MSC-EV production and isolation for clinical utility, and in what format they should be administered. However, as reviewed here, there is now substantial evidence supporting the use of MSC-EVs in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine and further research to establish how best to exploit this approach for societal and economic benefit is warranted.

Effect of cadmium on mRNA mistranslation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Although highly accurate molecular processes and various messenger RNA (mRNA) quality control and ribosome proofreading mechanisms are used by organisms to transcribe their genes and maintain the fidelity of genetic information, errors are inherent in all biological systems. Low-level translation errors caused by an imbalance of homologous and nonhomologous amino acids caused by stress conditions are particularly common. Paradoxically, advantageous phenotypic diversity can be generated by such errors in eukaryotes through unknown molecular processes. Here, we found that the significant cadmium-resistant phenotype was correlated with an increased mistranslation rate of the mRNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This phenotypic change was also related to endogenous sulfur amino acid starvation. Compared with the control, the mistranslation rate caused by cadmium was significantly increased (p < .01). With the increase of cysteine contents in medium, the mistranslation rate of WT(BY4742a) decreased significantly (p < .01). This demonstrates that cadmium treatment and sulfur amino acid starvation both can induce translation errors. Although cadmium uptake is independent of the Sul1 transporter, cadmium-induced mRNA mistranslation is dependent on the sulfate uptake of the Sul1p transporter. Furthermore, cadmium-induced translation errors depend on methionine biosynthesis. Taken together, cadmium causes endogenous sulfur starvation, leading to an increase in the mRNA mistranslation, which contributes to the resistance of yeast cells to cadmium. We provide a new pathway mediating the toxicity of cadmium, and we propose that altering mRNA mistranslation may portray a different form of environmental adaptation.