Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells-bone marrow (HMSC-bm)

Therapeutic Effects of MSCs on Lung Injury and Inflammatory Response

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can effectively attenuate acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, the optimal source of MSCs for cell-based therapy remains unknown. Here, Wang’s team compared the therapeutic effect of rat lung resident MSC (LRMSC), human chorion-derived MSC (HMSC-C) and human bone marrow derived MSC (HMSC-BM) in LPS induced ALI in mice.

Intratracheal instillation of LPS caused a robust inflammatory response in the lung (Fig. 1A and 1B). Administration of LRMSC, chorion-derived MSCs and bone marrow derived MSCs all decreased the inflammatory cells infiltration and the interstitial thickening induced by LPS (Fig. 1C-E). They also found that administration of LRMSC, chorion-derived MSCs and bone marrow derived MSCs significantly reduced the lung injury score and the effect of chorion-derived MSCs and bone marrow derived MSCs were stronger than that of LRMSC (Fig. 1F). Moreover, all these three kinds of MSCs attenuated the influx of inflammatory cells (Fig. 2) and reduced the secretion of the inflammatory cytokines IL-1β，IL-6, and TNF-α in the injured alveolus, and the effect of chorion-derived MSCs is best (Fig. 3A).

Hyaluronan-Based Hydrogel Delivering Glucose to Mesenchymal Stem Cells Intended to Treat Osteoarthritis

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy holds promise for osteoarthritis (OA) treatment by secreting growth factors and extracellular matrix molecules to regenerate cartilage. However, MSCs injected into the non-vascularized joint environment quickly die due to lack of energy supply. To address this, a glucose-bound hyaluronic acid (HA) derivative hydrogel was developed to provide a controlled glucose supply to MSCs, enhancing their survival and therapeutic efficacy in nutrient-deficient OA joints.

In this work, Gonzalez-Fernandez et al. investigated how the cell behaves under glucose starvation in terms of apoptosis and proliferation and they were hypothesizing that HA-GLC could reverse apoptosis and restore normal proliferation to glucose-free media. MSCs are deprived of nutrients and glucose in a non-vascularized environment such as in joints. To create a similar environment, they kept the cells in a medium that had no serum or glucose components (SD4). Flow cytometry was used to confirm MSC markers (CD73+, CD90+, HLA I+, HLA II−) to confirm that the cells did not differentiate during the treatment. The viability of MSCs under different conditions was determined by apoptosis/necrosis assay (Annexin V/PI double-staining) (Fig. 4a). The control conditions showed glucose is vital for cell survival. Adding HA-GLC to glucose-free medium significantly reduced cell death. To determine whether HA alone has an effect on cell viability, HA was added to glucose-free media. In this condition, 53% of the MSCs survived after 72 h. This result suggested that HA itself could be a sufficient energy source for the cells. This was consistent with the previously reported ability of HA to nurture stem cells.