Into the eyes of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells therapy for myocardial infarction and other diseases

Down-regulation of VCAM-1 in bone mesenchymal stem cells reduces inflammatory responses and apoptosis to improve cardiac function in rat with myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND

Bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) has been well known to exert therapeutic potential for patients with myocardial infarction (MI). VCAM-1 can promote the migration of lymphocytes to the inflammatory zone. In the present study, we tried to explore whether VCAM-1 silenced-BMSCs have better therapeutic effects on MI.

METHODS

BMSCs were isolated and cultured followed by treatment of a lentivirus silencing VCAM-1 and NF-κB activator (PMA). Besides, MI rat models were also established and injected with treated BMSCs to detect the effect of VCAM-1 silenced-BMSCs in MI, as evidenced by detection of cardiac function, survival of rats within 72 h, infarct size and myocardial cell apoptosis. Moreover, the expression of NF-κB-regulated gene products was also determined.

RESULTS

The implantation of sh-VCAM-1 BMSCs into MI rats resulted in more reductions in myocardial infarct size as well as myocardial cell apoptosis, improved cardiac function, the number of survived rats within 72 h, and survival time within 72 h compared with the individual treatments of either BMSCs or control. In addition, transplanted BMSCs down-regulated the expression of NF-κB-p65, MMP-9, TNF-α, and Bax, and up-regulated VEGF and Bcl-2 in myocardial tissue, which could be further enhanced by sh-VCAM-1 and rescued by PMA.

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrated that silencing VCAM-1 in BMSCs could inhibit inflammation and apoptosis, thus improving cardiac function in MI.

Effect of Oral Losartan on Orthobiologics: Implications for Platelet-Rich Plasma and Bone Marrow Concentrate-A Rabbit Study

Recent efforts have focused on customizing orthobiologics, such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and bone marrow concentrate (BMC), to improve tissue repair. We hypothesized that oral losartan (a TGF-β1 blocker with anti-fibrotic properties) could decrease TGF-β1 levels in leukocyte-poor PRP (LP-PRP) and fibrocytes in BMC. Ten rabbits were randomized into two groups (N = 5/group): osteochondral defect + microfracture (control, group 1) and osteochondral defect + microfracture + losartan (losartan, group 2). For group 2, a dose of 10mg/kg/day of losartan was administrated orally for 12 weeks post-operatively. After 12 weeks, whole blood (WB) and bone marrow aspirate (BMA) samples were collected to process LP-PRP and BMC. TGF-β1 concentrations were measured in WB and LP-PRP with multiplex immunoassay. BMC cell populations were analyzed by flow cytometry with CD31, CD44, CD45, CD34, CD146 and CD90 antibodies. There was no significant difference in TGF-β1 levels between the losartan and control group in WB or LP-PRP. In BMC, the percentage of CD31+ cells (endothelial cells) in the losartan group was significantly higher than the control group (p = 0.008), while the percentage of CD45+ cells (hematopoietic cells-fibrocytes) in the losartan group was significantly lower than the control group (p = 0.03).

L-type voltage-gated calcium channels in stem cells and tissue engineering

L-type voltage-gated calcium ion channels (L-VGCCs) have been demonstrated to be the mediator of several significant intracellular activities in excitable cells, such as neurons, chromaffin cells and myocytes. Recently, an increasing number of studies have investigated the function of L-VGCCs in non-excitable cells, particularly stem cells. However, there appear to be no systematic reviews of the relationship between L-VGCCs and stem cells, and filling this gap is prescient considering the contribution of L-VGCCs to the proliferation and differentiation of several types of stem cells. This review will discuss the possible involvement of L-VGCCs in stem cells, mainly focusing on osteogenesis mediated by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from different tissues and neurogenesis mediated by neural stem/progenitor cells (NSCs). Additionally, advanced applications that use these channels as the target for tissue engineering, which may offer the hope of tissue regeneration in the future, will also be explored.

Anti-aging effects exerted by Tetramethylpyrazine enhances self-renewal and neuronal differentiation of rat bMSCs by suppressing NF-kB signaling

In order to improve the therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapies for a number of intractable neurological disorders, a more favorable strategy to regulate the outcome of bone marrow MSCs (bMSCs) was examined in the present study. In view of the wide range of neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects, Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP), a biologically active alkaloid isolated from the herbal medicine Ligusticum wallichii, was used. It was revealed that treatment with 30–50 mg/l TMP for 4 days significantly increased cell viability, alleviated senescence by suppressing NF-κB signaling, and promoted bMSC proliferation by regulating the cell cycle. In addition, 40–50 mg/l TMP treatment may facilitate the neuronal differentiation of bMSCs, verified in the present study by presentation of neuronal morphology and expression of neuronal markers: microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP-2) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE). The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) revealed that TMP treatment may promote the expression of neurogenin 1 (Ngn1), neuronal differentiation 1 (NeuroD) and mammalian achaete–scute homolog 1 (Mash1). In conclusion, 4 days of 40–50 mg/l TMP treatment may significantly delay bMSC senescence by suppressing NF-κB signaling, and enhancing the self-renewal ability of bMSCs, and their potential for neuronal differentiation.

Gelfoam haemostatic agent with or without autologous bone marrow-derived stem cells for the regeneration of critical-size mandibular defects in the rabbit

This study evaluated the effect of Gelfoam sponge with and without autologous bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs) on bone regeneration in critical-size mandibular defects. The study involved 56 New Zealand rabbits assigned to four groups (14 in each). The osseous defects in group I were irrigated with normal saline, those in group II were grafted with autogenous tibial bone, and those in group III were filled with Gelfoam sponge. Group IV defects were treated as for group III, but the interface between the Gelfoam sponge and bone surface was injected with BMSCs. At the end of 4weeks, seven rabbits in each group were euthanized; the remaining animals were euthanized at the end of the experiment, at 8 weeks postoperative. The percentage area of newly formed bone was significantly higher in group IV at week 4 (0.030±0.01%) and week 8 (0.060±0.03%) than in group I (0.01±0.00% and 0.02±0.00%, respectively) and group III (0.08±0.01% and 0.015±0.02%, respectively), but was lower than that in group II (0.038±0.02% and 0.082±0.01%, respectively). Thus, the combination of Gelfoam and autologous BMSCs promoted the regeneration of mandibular critical-size defects better than the use of Gelfoam alone. However, the amount of newly generated bone was lower than in defects grafted with autogenous bone.