The Effects of Embryonic Cerebrospinal Fluid on The Viability and Neuronal Differentiation of Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cells in Wistar Rats

Effects of conditioned media derived from human Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells on diabetic nephropathy and hepatopathy via modulating TGF-β and apelin signaling pathways in male rats

BACKGROUND

Diabetic nephropathy and hepatopathy are health problems described by specific renal and hepatic structure and function disturbances. The protective effects of the stem cell secretome have been shown in several kidney and liver diseases. The current study aims to evaluate the capability of conditioned media derived from human Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells (hWJ-MSCs-CM) to alleviate diabetic complications.

METHODS

Twenty Sprague Dawley rats were made diabetic through injection of STZ (60 mg/kg, i.p.). At week 8, diabetic rats were divided into two groups: treated [DM + hWJ-MSCs-CM (500 µl/rat for three weeks, i.p.)] and not treated (DM). At the 11th week, three groups (control, DM, and DM + hWJ-MSCs-CM) were kept in metabolic cages, and urine was collected for 24 h. The serum samples were maintained for measuring fasting blood glucose (FBG) and kidney and liver functional analysis. The left kidney and liver parts were kept at -80 °C to assess apelin and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) expression. The right kidney, pancreas, and liver parts were used for histopathologic evaluation.

RESULTS

DM was detected by higher FBG, microalbuminuria, increased albumin/creatinine ratio, and pancreas, renal, and hepatic structural disturbances. Diabetic hepatopathy was determined by increasing liver enzymes and decreasing total bilirubin. The TGF-β gene expression was significantly upregulated in the diabetic kidney and liver tissues. Apelin gene expression was significantly downregulated in the diabetic liver tissue but did not change in kidney tissue. Administration of hWJ-MSCs-CM improved renal and hepatic functional and structural disturbances. Moreover, CM therapy significantly decreased TGF-β expression and enhanced apelin expression in the kidney and liver tissues.

CONCLUSION

Human WJ-MSCs-CM may have protective effects on diabetic renal and hepatic complications. These effects may happen through the regulation of TGF-β and apelin signaling pathways.

Effect of Melatonin on Alpha Synuclein and Autophagy in Dopaminergic Neuronal Differentiation of Adipose Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Background

The current work investigated the effect of melatonin on differentiation of adipose mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) into dopamine producing cells and its effect on autophagy process and alpha-Synuclein (α-Syn) secretion.

Methods

AD-MSCs were characterized by flow cytometry and divided into 4 groups; i) control group (AD-MSCs without any treatment), ii) M+MSCs group (MSCs treated with 1 µM melatonin for 12 days), iii) DN group (MSCs cultured in neurobasal A medium and essential neuronal growth factors for 12 days) and iv) DN+M group (MSCs cultured in neurobasal A medium and 1µM melatonin for 12 days. By the end of experiments, the dopamine and α-Syn levels using ELISA, the expression of MAP-2, m-TOR and α-Syn genes at the level of mRNA and detection of autophagosomes formation using transmission electron microscope were performed.

Results

We found that the isolated cells were MSCs due to their positivity expression for CD105 and CD90 and negativity expression for CD34 and CD45. The concentration of dopamine was significantly higher and α-Syn concentration was significantly lower in DN+M group when compared to other groups (P< 0.005). Also, this group showed the highly expression for MAP-2 gene and less expression for m-TOR and α-Syn genes (P< 0.005). Moreover, there was significantly increase in autophagosomes formation in this group than another group (P< 0.005).

Conclusions

It is concluded that the melatonin promotes the differentiation of rat AD-MSCs into dopaminergic cells via induction of autophagy process and reduction of α-Syn secretion.

Effect of Amniotic Membrane/Collagen-Based Scaffolds on the Chondrogenic Differentiation of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells and Cartilage Repair

Objectives: Repairing articular cartilage damage is challenging. Clinically, tissue engineering technology is used to induce stem cell differentiation and proliferation on biological scaffolds to repair defective joints. However, no ideal biological scaffolds have been identified. This study investigated the effects of amniotic membrane/collagen scaffolds on the differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and articular cartilage repair.

Methods: Adipose tissue of New Zealand rabbits was excised, and ADSCs were isolated and induced for differentiation. An articular cartilage defect model was constructed to identify the effect of amniotic membrane/collagen scaffolds on cartilage repair. Cartilage formation was analyzed by imaging and toluene blue staining. Knee joint recovery in rabbits was examined using hematoxylin and eosin, toluidine, safranine, and immunohistochemistry at 12 weeks post-operation. Gene expression was examined using ELISA, RT-PCR, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence.

Results: The adipose tissue was effectively differentiated into ADSCs, which further differentiated into chondrogenic, osteogenic, and lipogenic lineages after 3 weeks’ culture in vitro. Compared with platelet-rich plasmon (PRP) scaffolds, the amniotic membrane scaffolds better promoted the growth and differentiation of ADSCs. Additionally, scaffolds containing the PRP and amniotic membrane efficiently enhanced the osteogenic differentiation of ADSCs. The levels of COL1A1, COL2A1, COL10A1, SOX9, and ACAN in ADSCs + amniotic membrane + PRP group were significantly higher than the other groups both in vitro and in vivo. The Wakitani scores of the ADSC + amniotic membrane + PRP group were lower than that in ADSC + PRP (4.4 ± 0.44**), ADSC + amniotic membrane (2.63 ± 0.38**), and control groups (6.733 ± 0.21) at week 12 post-operation. Osteogenesis in rabbits of the ADSC + amniotic membrane + PRP group was significantly upregulated when compared with other groups. Amniotic membranes significantly promoted the expression of cartilage regeneration-related factors (SOX6, SOX9, RUNX2, NKX3-2, MEF2C, and GATA4). The ADSC + PRP + amniotic membrane group exhibited the highest levels of TGF-β, PDGF, and FGF while exhibiting the lowest level of IL-1β, IL6, and TNF-α in articular cavity.

Conclusion: Amniotic membrane/collagen combination-based scaffolds promoted the proliferation and cartilage differentiation of ADSCs, and may provide a new treatment paradigm for patients with cartilage injury.

Role of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Counteracting Oxidative Stress-Related Neurodegeneration

Neurodegenerative diseases include a variety of pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and so forth, which share many common characteristics such as oxidative stress, glycation, abnormal protein deposition, inflammation, and progressive neuronal loss. The last century has witnessed significant research to identify mechanisms and risk factors contributing to the complex etiopathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, such as genetic, vascular/metabolic, and lifestyle-related factors, which often co-occur and interact with each other. Apart from several environmental or genetic factors, in recent years, much evidence hints that impairment in redox homeostasis is a common mechanism in different neurological diseases. However, from a pharmacological perspective, oxidative stress is a difficult target, and antioxidants, the only strategy used so far, have been ineffective or even provoked side effects. In this review, we report an analysis of the recent literature on the role of oxidative stress in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases as well as in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, retinal ganglion cells, and ataxia. Moreover, the contribution of stem cells has been widely explored, looking at their potential in neuronal differentiation and reporting findings on their application in fighting oxidative stress in different neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, the exposure to mesenchymal stem cells or their secretome can be considered as a promising therapeutic strategy to enhance antioxidant capacity and neurotrophin expression while inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion, which are common aspects of neurodegenerative pathologies. Further studies are needed to identify a tailored approach for each neurodegenerative disease in order to design more effective stem cell therapeutic strategies to prevent a broad range of neurodegenerative disorders.