Graphene oxide films as a novel tool for the modulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cell activity in the context of multiple sclerosis.

Despite the pharmacological arsenal approved for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), there are treatment-reluctant patients for whom cell therapy appears as the only therapeutic alternative. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are immature cells of the innate immunity able to control the immune response and to promote oligodendroglial differentiation in the MS animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). However, when isolated and cultured for cell therapy purposes, MDSCs lose their beneficial immunomodulatory properties. To prevent this important drawback, culture devices need to be designed so that MDSCs maintain a state of immaturity and immunosuppressive function similar to that exerted in the donor organism. With this aim, we select graphene oxide (GO) as a promising candidate as it has been described as a biocompatible nanomaterial with the capacity to biologically modulate different cell types, yet its immunoactive potential has been poorly explored to date. In this work, we have fabricated GO films with two distintive redox and roughness properties and explore their impact in MDSC culture right after isolation. Our results show that MDSCs isolated from immune organs of EAE mice maintain an immature phenotype and highly immunosuppressive activity on T lymphocytes after being cultured on highly-reduced GO films (rGO200) compared to those grown on conventional glass coverslips. This immunomodulation effect is depleted when MDSCs are exposed to slightly rougher and more oxidized GO substrates (rGO90), in which cells experience a significant reduction in cell size associated with the activation of apoptosis. Taken together, the exposure of MDSCs to GO substrates with different redox state and roughness is presented as a good strategy to control MDSC activity in vitro. The versatility of GO nanomaterials in regards to the impact of their physico-chemical properties in immunomodulation opens the door to their selective therapeutic potential for pathologies where MDSCs need to be enhanced (MS) or inhibited (cancer).

Intracerebellar injection of monocytic immature myeloid cells prevents the adverse effects caused by stereotactic surgery in a model of cerebellar neurodegeneration.

BACKGROUND: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) constitute a recently discovered bone-marrow-derived cell type useful for dealing with neuroinflammatory disorders. However, these cells are only formed during inflammatory conditions from immature myeloid cells (IMCs) that acquire immunosuppressive activity, thus being commonly gathered from diseased animals. Then, to obtain a more clinically feasible source, we characterized IMCs directly derived from healthy bone marrow and proved their potential immunosuppressive activity under pathological conditions in vitro. We then explored their neuroprotective potential in a model of human cerebellar ataxia, the Purkinje Cell Degeneration (PCD) mouse, as it displays a well-defined neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory process that can be also aggravated by invasive surgeries. METHODS: IMCs were obtained from healthy bone marrow and co-cultured with activated T cells. The proliferation and apoptotic rate of the later were analyzed with Tag-it Violet. For in vivo studies, IMCs were transplanted by stereotactic surgery into the cerebellum of PCD mice. We also used sham-operated animals as controls of the surgical effects, as well as their untreated counterparts. Motor behavior of mice was assessed by rotarod test. The Purkinje cell density was measured by immunohistochemistry and cell death assessed with the TUNEL technique. We also analyzed the microglial phenotype by immunofluorescence and the expression pattern of inflammation-related genes by qPCR. Parametric tests were applied depending on the specific experiment: one or two way ANOVA and Student's T test. RESULTS: IMCs were proven to effectively acquire immunosuppressive activity under pathological conditions in vitro, thus acting as MDSCs. Concerning in vivo studios, sham-operated PCD mice suffered detrimental effects in motor coordination, Purkinje cell survival and microglial activation. After intracranial administration of IMCs into the cerebellum of PCD mice, no special benefits were detected in the transplanted animals when compared to untreated mice. Nonetheless, this transplant almost completely prevented the impairments caused by the surgery in PCD mice, probably by the modulation of the inflammatory patterns. CONCLUSIONS: Our work comprise two main translational findings: (1) IMCs can be directly used as they behave as MDSCs under pathological conditions, thus avoiding their gathering from diseased subjects; (2) IMCs are promising adjuvants when performing neurosurgery.

Hyperglycemia in Stroke Impairs Polarization of Monocytes/Macrophages to a Protective Noninflammatory Cell Type.

UNLABELLED: Hyperglycemia is common in patients with acute stroke, even in those without preexisting diabetes, and denotes a bad outcome. However, the mechanisms underlying the detrimental effects of hyperglycemia are largely unclear. In a mouse model of ischemic stroke, we found that hyperglycemia increased the infarct volume and decreased the number of protective noninflammatory monocytes/macrophages in the ischemic brain. Ablation of peripheral monocytes blocked the detrimental effect of hyperglycemia, suggesting that monocytes are required. In hyperglycemic mice, α-dicarbonyl glucose metabolites, the precursors for advanced glycation end products, were significantly elevated in plasma and ischemic brain tissue. The receptor of advanced glycation end products, AGER (previously known as RAGE), interfered with polarization of macrophages to a noninflammatory phenotype. When Ager was deleted, hyperglycemia did not aggravate ischemic brain damage any longer. Independently of AGER, methylglyoxal reduced the release of endothelial CSF-1 (M-CSF), which stimulates polarization of macrophages to a noninflammatory phenotype in the microenvironment of the ischemic brain. In summary, our study identified α-dicarbonyls and AGER as mediators by which hyperglycemia lowers the number of protective noninflammatory macrophages and consequently increases ischemic brain damage. Modulating the metabolism of α-dicarbonyls or blocking AGER may improve the treatment of stroke patients with hyperglycemia. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Although glucose is the main energy substrate of the brain, hyperglycemia aggravates ischemic brain damage in acute stroke. So far, clinical trials have indicated that insulin treatment provides no solution to this common clinical problem. This study shows, in an experimental stroke model, that hyperglycemia interferes with the polarization of monocytes/macrophages to a protective cell type. Key players are α-dicarbonyls and the receptor for advanced glycation end products (AGER). Deletion of AGER normalized monocyte/macrophage polarization and reversed the detrimental effects of hyperglycemia, suggesting new avenues to treat stroke patients.

Myeloid derived suppressor cells in inflammatory conditions of the central nervous system.

The knowledge of the immune system elements and their relationship with other tissues, organs and systems are key approximations for the resolution of many immune-related disorders. The control of the immune response and/or its modulation from the pro-inflammatory to the anti-inflammatory response is being deeply studied in the field. In the last years, the study of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), a group of immature myeloid cells with a high suppressive activity on T cells has been extensively addressed in cancer. In contrast, their role in neuroimmune diseases is far from being totally understood. In this review, we will summarize data about MDSCs coming from the study of neuroinflammatory diseases in general and their potential role in multiple sclerosis, in order to introduce the putative use of this extraordinary promising cell type for future cell-based therapies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Neuro Inflammation edited by Helga E. de Vries and Markus Schwaninger.

The adhesion molecule anosmin-1 in neurology: Kallmann syndrome and beyond.

Anosmin-1 is the glycoprotein encoded by the KAL1 gene and part of the extracellular matrix, which was first identified as defective in human Kallmann syndrome (KS, characterised by hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and anosmia); biochemically it is a cell adhesion protein. The meticulous biochemical dissection of the anosmin-1 domains has identified which domains are necessary for the protein to bind its different partners to display its biological effects. Research in the last decade has unravelled different roles of anosmin-1 during CNS development (axon pathfinding, axonal collateralisation, cell motility and migration), some of them intimately related with the cited KS but not only with this. More recently, anosmin-1 has been identified in other pathological scenarios both within (multiple sclerosis) and outside (cancer, atopic dermatitis) the CNS.

Megalin mediates the influence of sonic hedgehog on oligodendrocyte precursor cell migration and proliferation during development.

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) of the optic nerve are generated in the preoptic area, from where they migrate to colonize it entirely. Sonic hedgehog (Shh) induces the proliferation of these cells as well as influencing their migration, acting through its canonical receptor (Ptc-1). However, the multiligand receptor megalin (or LRP-2) is also involved in Shh-induced OPC proliferation and migration, and thus, we have evaluated the relevance of this interaction. During the stages at which Shh influences OPC development, we found megalin to be selectively expressed by optic nerve astrocytes, whereas Ptc-1 and Gli1 were found in OPCs. Indeed, this pattern of expression paralleled the rostral-caudal expression of the three Shh-related molecules during the time course of plp-dm20(+) -OPC colonization. The blockage of megalin partially abolished OPC chemoattraction and fully impaired Shh-induced proliferation. Using in vitro co-cultures of dissociated optic nerve cells, we demonstrated that Shh was internalized by astrocytes via megalin, and sufficient Shh was subsequently released to produce the biological effects on OPCs observed in the nerve. Together, these data indicate that at least part of the influence of Shh on OPCs is mediated by megalin during optic nerve development, and that astrocytes expressing megalin transiently capture Shh to present it to OPCs and/or to control the gradient of this molecule during development.

Dynamic roles of FGF-2 and Anosmin-1 in the migration of neuronal precursors from the subventricular zone during pre- and postnatal development.

FGF-2 and Anosmin-1 are diffusible proteins which act in cell proliferation and/or migration during CNS development. We describe their developmental expression patterns in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the forebrain and the neuronal precursors (NPs) that migrate from this neurogenic site towards the olfactory bulb, forming the rostral migratory stream (RMS). The analysis is carried out before (E14), during (E17, P5) and after (P15) the peaks of migration along the RMS and before this acquires its mature conformation. At all these stages, FGF-2 exerts a FGFR1-mediated motogenic effect on NPs and induces the proliferation of SVZ astrocytes (putatively type B cells from triads), and Anosmin-1 works as a typical chemotropic agent for the NPs (mediated by FGFR1 at P5-P15). Altogether, our results are consistent with the notion that FGF-2 increases cell proliferation in the SVZ and would be the motogenic cue which feeds the migration of the newly produced NPs once generated, from early development (E14) and at least until P15, while Anosmin-1 cooperates in this migration attracting the NPs. In this sense, both cues should be considered as two of the first to be chronologically identified as actors in the formation of the RMS.