Assessment of the Neuroprotective and Stemness Properties of Human Wharton's Jelly-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells under Variable (5% vs. 21%) Aerobic Conditions.

To optimise the culture conditions for human Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hWJ-MSCs) intended for clinical use, we investigated ten different properties of these cells cultured under 21% (atmospheric) and 5% (physiological normoxia) oxygen concentrations. The obtained results indicate that 5% O2 has beneficial effects on the proliferation rate, clonogenicity, and slowdown of senescence of hWJ-MSCs; however, the oxygen level did not have an influence on the cell morphology, immunophenotype, or neuroprotective effect of the hWJ-MSCs. Nonetheless, the potential to differentiate into adipocytes, osteocytes, and chondrocytes was comparable under both oxygen conditions. However, spontaneous differentiation of hWJ-MSCs into neuronal lineages was observed and enhanced under atmospheric oxygen conditions. The cells relied more on mitochondrial respiration than glycolysis, regardless of the oxygen conditions. Based on these results, we can conclude that hWJ-MSCs could be effectively cultured and prepared under both oxygen conditions for cell-based therapy. However, the 5% oxygen level seemed to create a more balanced and appropriate environment for hWJ-MSCs.

Complete Assessment of Multilineage Differentiation Potential of Human Skeletal Muscle-Derived Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells.

The minimal criteria for mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSC) identification set by the International Society for Cellular Therapy include plastic adherence, presence and absence of a set of surface antigens and in vitro multilineage differentiation. This differentiation is assessed through stimulation of MSCs with defined combination and concentration of growth factors towards specific lineages and histological confirmation of the presence of differentiated cells. Here we provide protocols for multilineage differentiation, namely, osteogenesis, adipogenesis, chondrogenesis and myogenesis. We also provide their respective histological analyses.

Characterization of sequential collagen-poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate interpenetrating networks and initial assessment of their potential for vascular tissue engineering.

Collagen hydrogels have been widely investigated as scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering due in part to the capacity of collagen to promote robust cell adhesion and elongation. However, collagen hydrogels display relatively low stiffness and strength, are thrombogenic, and are highly susceptible to cell-mediated contraction. In the current work, we develop and characterize a sequentially-formed interpenetrating network (IPN) that retains the benefits of collagen, but which displays enhanced mechanical stiffness and strength, improved thromboresistance, high physical stability and resistance to contraction. In this strategy, we first form a collagen hydrogel, infuse this hydrogel with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), and subsequently crosslink the PEGDA by exposure to longwave UV light. These collagen-PEGDA IPNs allow for cell encapsulation during the fabrication process with greater than 90% cell viability via inclusion of cells within the collagen hydrogel precursor solution. Furthermore, the degree of cell spreading within the IPNs can be tuned from rounded to fully elongated by varying the time delay between the formation of the cell-laden collagen hydrogel and the formation of the PEGDA network. We also demonstrate that these collagen-PEGDA IPNs are able to support the initial stages of smooth muscle cell lineage progression by elongated human mesenchymal stems cells.

Comparing the biological impact of glatiramer acetate with the biological impact of a generic.

For decades, policies regarding generic medicines have sought to provide patients with economical access to safe and effective drugs, while encouraging the development of new therapies. This balance is becoming more challenging for physicians and regulators as biologics and non-biological complex drugs (NBCDs) such as glatiramer acetate demonstrate remarkable efficacy, because generics for these medicines are more difficult to assess. We sought to develop computational methods that use transcriptional profiles to compare branded medicines to generics, robustly characterizing differences in biological impact. We combined multiple computational methods to determine whether differentially expressed genes result from random variation, or point to consistent differences in biological impact of the generic compared to the branded medicine. We applied these methods to analyze gene expression data from mouse splenocytes exposed to either branded glatiramer acetate or a generic. The computational methods identified extensive evidence that branded glatiramer acetate has a more consistent biological impact across batches than the generic, and has a distinct impact on regulatory T cells and myeloid lineage cells. In summary, we developed a computational pipeline that integrates multiple methods to compare two medicines in an innovative way. This pipeline, and the specific findings distinguishing branded glatiramer acetate from a generic, can help physicians and regulators take appropriate steps to ensure safety and efficacy.

Knockdown of IKK1/2 promotes differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into neuroectoderm at the expense of mesoderm.

Activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is accomplished by a specific kinase complex (IKK-complex), phosphorylating inhibitors of NF-κB (IκB). In embryonic stem cells (ESCs), NF-κB signaling causes loss of pluripotency and promotes differentiation towards a mesodermal phenotype. Here we show that NF-κB signaling is involved in cell fate determination during retinoic acid (RA) mediated differentiation of ESCs. Knockdown of IKK1 and IKK2 promotes differentiation of ESCs into neuroectoderm at the expense of neural crest derived myofibroblasts. Our data indicate that RA is not only able to induce neuronal differentiation in vitro but also drives ESCs into a neural crest cell lineage represented by differentiation towards peripheral neurons and myofibroblasts. The NC is a transiently existing, highly multipotent embryonic cell population generating a wide range of different cell types. During embryonic development the NC gives rise to distinct precursor lineages along the anterior-posterior axis determining differentiation towards specific derivates. Retinoic acid (RA) signaling provides essential instructive cues for patterning the neuroectoderm along the anterior-posterior axis. The demonstration of RA as a sufficient instructive signal for the differentiation of pluripotent cells towards NC and the involvement of NF-κB during this process provides useful information for the generation of specific NC-lineages, which are valuable for studying NC development or disease modeling.

Assessment of the carcinogenic potential of mitemcinal (GM-611): increased incidence of malignant lymphoma in a rat carcinogenicity study.

Mitemcinal is an erythromycin derivative, which acts as an agonist of the motilin receptor. For assessment of the carcinogenicity of mitemcinal, we conducted a short-term carcinogenicity study in p53 (+/-) C57BL/6 mice and a 104-week carcinogenicity study in CD(SD)IGS rats. There was no evidence of a carcinogenic potential in mouse when administered for 26 consecutive weeks at levels up to 250 mg/kg/day. In the rat study, an increased incidence of lymphoma was noted in 5/60 males and 8/60 females of the high dose group (60 mg/kg/day) compared to 1/60 and 0/60 in control males and females, respectively, with statistical significance in females. Rat lymphomas include different immunomorphologic types (T- or B-cell lineage). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that lymphomas from mitemcinal-treated rats and spontaneous cases were of T-cell lineage. The overall weight of evidence suggests that the incidence of spontaneous lymphoma was enhanced in the rat study. They also indicate that the increased incidence of lymphomas was based on a non-genotoxic effect with a threshold dose-response and that the tumorigenesis was based on the strain or species specificity of background factors. The high dose in the rat study is approximately 1600-fold higher (AUC) than that of the clinical dose, a sufficient margin of safety for the clinical dose. We conclude that the risk of carcinogenesis due to mitemcinal in humans can be considered to be minimal and is to represent an acceptable risk for the continued administration of mitemcinal to humans.

Early growth response gene 1 stimulates development of hematopoietic progenitor cells along the macrophage lineage at the expense of the granulocyte and erythroid lineages.

Using a variety of differentiation-inducible myeloid cell lines, we previously showed that the zinc-finger transcription factor early growth response gene 1 (Egr-1) is a positive modulator of macrophage differentiation and negatively regulates granulocytic differentiation. In this study, high-efficiency retroviral transduction was used to ectopically express Egr-1 in myeloid-enriched or stem cell-enriched bone marrow cultures to explore its effect on the development of hematopoietic progenitors in vitro and in lethally irradiated mice. It was found that ectopic Egr-1 expression in normal hematopoietic progenitors stimulates development along the macrophage lineage at the expense of development along the granulocyte or erythroid lineages, regardless of the cytokine used. Moreover, Egr-1 accelerated macrophage development by suppressing the proliferative phase of the growth-to-macrophage developmental program. The remarkable ability of Egr-1 to dictate macrophage development at the expense of development along other lineages resulted in failure of Egr-1-infected hematopoietic progenitors to repopulate the bone marrow and spleen, and thereby prevent death, in lethally irradiated mice. These observations further highlight the role Egr-1 plays in monocytic differentiation and growth suppression.