Project description:Human umbilical cord matrix-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (UCM-MSC) are advantageous since can be easily obtained and display special interest as universal and feasible add-on therapy for myocardial infarction (MI). In this study, UCM-MSC from two umbilical cords, UC-A and UC-B, were transplanted in a murine MI model to investigate consistency and durability of the therapeutic benefits. Both cellular products supported sustained and long-term beneficial therapeutic effect. In vitro, the two cell products displayed similar ability to induce the formation of vessel-like structures and comparable transcriptome in normoxia and hypoxia, apart from expression differences in a small subset of genes associated with MHC Class I. These findings support that UCM-MSC are strong candidates to assist the treatment of MI whilst calling for the discussion on methodologies to characterize and select best performing UCM-MSC before clinical application.
Project description:Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been shown to exert therapeutic effects on various autoimmune diseases. However, such therapeutic effect is not always achieved. Among many reasons, MSC culture methodologies may account for the these differences. It is known that oxygen concentration could profoundly affect the properties of MSCs. Therefore, we compared human umbilical cord derived MSCs cultured under hypoxic and normoxic conditions. We used microarrays to profile the gene expression of human umbilical cord derived MSCs under 10% oxygen and normoxia conditions.
Project description:MiRNA microarray analysis was performed on exosomes secreted by mouse MSC cells under two different conditions of normal oxygen and hypoxia, in order to find out the different miRNAs in exosomes secreted by MSC under two different conditions.
Project description:To facilitate umbilical cord explant culture as a long-term source for mesenchymal stromal cells, we compared the transcriptome of mesenchymal stromal cell explant cultures (MSC-EM) initiated 14 days (early) post preparation, 2 months later (late) and with INF-g and TNF-a (25 ng/mL) activated samples
Project description:Human umbilical cord matrix-mesenchymal stromal cells (hUCM-MSC) have demonstrated beneficial effects in experimental acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In this study, we investigated the outcome of the delivery of hUCM-MSC after reperfusion in a translational model of AMI in swine. We have found that intracoronary injection of the cell product was associated with improved systolic function and that improvement in mechanical performance. This did not depend on the reduction of morphological infarct size alone, despite treated animals showing signs of less adverse remodeling.
Project description:Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are multipotent cells which can be obtained from several adult and fetal tissues including human umbilical cord units. We have recently shown that umbilical cord tissue (UC) is richer in MSC than umbilical cord blood (UCB) but their origin and characteristics in blood as compared to the cord remains unknown. Here we compared, for the first time, the exonic protein-coding and intronic noncoding RNA (ncRNA) expression profiles of MSC from match-paired UC and UCB samples, harvested from the same donors, processed simultaneously and under the same culture conditions. The patterns of intronic ncRNA expression in MSC from UC and UCB paired units were highly similar, indicative of their common donor origin. The respective exonic protein-coding transcript expression profiles, however, were significantly different. Hierarchical clustering based on protein-coding expression similarities grouped MSC according to their tissue location rather than original donor. Genes related to systems development, osteogenesis and immune system were expressed at higher levels in UCB, whereas genes related to cell adhesion, morphogenesis, secretion, angiogenesis and neurogenesis were more expressed in UC cells. These molecular differences verified in tissue-specific MSC gene expression may reflect functional activities influenced by distinct niches and should be considered when developing clinical protocols involving MSC from different sources. In addition, these findings reinforce our previous suggestion on the importance of banking the whole umbilical cord unit for research or future therapeutic use.
Project description:Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have emerged as potent therapeutic tool for a number of pathologies, including immune ones. However, unwelcome effects of MSC on the blood coagulation were revealed in some cases, which require more in-depth analysis. In this study, we explored the trombotic properties of human MSC from umbilical cord. We revealed strong procoagulant effects of umbilical cord MSC toward human and rat whole blood and platelets-free plasma using rotational thromboelastometry and thrombodynamics tests. The similar potentiation of clotting was demonstrated for MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (EV). In order to suggest approaches to avoid unwanted effects we studied the impact of heparin supplement on MSC/EV procoagulation properties. We found that therapeutic doses of unfractionated heparin injected in the patient's blood (administered in vivo) did not abrogate the procoagulant properties of MSC. Mass-spectrometry analysis of proteins of MSC and EV involved in coagulation-associated pathways was used to evaluate mechanisms of protrombotic effects.
Project description:Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotent progenitors that can be isolated from different sources, such as the bone marrow, adipose tissue and umbilical cord. The therapeutic potential of MSCs is related to a plethora of immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and pro-repair actions, which are at least partially dependent on their secretome. Among the components of MSCs' secretome, EVs have received considerable attention because MSC-EVs exert similar therapeutic properties as their parent cells. Among the different MSC sources for EV production, human umbilical cord MSCs (hUCMSCs) show advantages such as tissue availability, high proliferative profile of the cells and potential beneficial therapeutic effects in a variety of different diseases, such as stroke This study aimed to provide novel insights for future hUCMSC-EVs research and treatment selection. We investigated the influence of the culture and harvesting conditions on the EV proteomic profile, productivity, surface markers expression and evaluated their in vivo biodistribution and toxicity.