Stem Leydig cells support macrophage immunological homeostasis through mitochondrial transfer in mice.

As testicular mesenchymal stromal cells, stem Leydig cells (SLCs) show great promise in the treatment of male hypogonadism. The therapeutic functions of mesenchymal stromal cells are largely determined by their reciprocal regulation by immune responses. However, the immunoregulatory properties of SLCs remain unclear. Here, we observe that SLCs transplantation restore male fertility and testosterone production in an ischemia‒reperfusion injury mouse model. SLCs prevent inflammatory cascades through mitochondrial transfer to macrophages. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) released from activated macrophages inducing mitochondrial transfer from SLCs to macrophages in a transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily member 7 (TRPM7)-mediated manner. Notably, knockdown of TRPM7 in transplanted SLCs compromised therapeutic outcomes in both testicular ischemia‒reperfusion and testicular aging mouse models. These findings reveal a new mechanism of SLCs transplantation that may contribute to preserve testis function in male patients with hypogonadism related to immune disorders.

Ningmitai capsules have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects in the chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome mouse model through systemic immunity.

Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) seriously affects the physical and mental health of approximately 90% of males. Due to its complex and unclear etiology, the treatment methods that are currently available for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome are controversial, and their efficacy is unsatisfactory. At present, most researchers believe that this kind of prostatitis is caused by autoimmune inflammation. Chinese herbs, which are the essence of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), are emerging treatment options for inflammation and immune diseases. In this experiment, we investigated the effect of Ningmitai capsules (a kind of traditional Chinese medicine widely used to treat lower urinary tract inflammation and pain in males) on chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome in a non-obese diabetes-experimental autoimmune prostatitis (NOD-EAP) mouse model. First, by using bioinformatics analysis of data from the Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ETCM) database, we found that quercetin, which is one of the main components of Ningmitai capsules, could reduce the secretion of CCL2 by inhibiting the MAPK pathway. In animal experiments, it was found that after Ningmitai treatment, the inflammation in mouse prostates was alleviated, the expression of CCL2, which is related to pain, and MAPK pathway components were downregulated, and the activation of the inflammatory NF-κB and STAT3 pathways was reduced. Pelvic pain and inflammation were relieved in mice with EAP. Due to the presence of the blood-prostate barrier, the drug may not completely reach the prostate directly and take effect locally. However, we found that after Ningmitai treatment, the proportions of proinflammatory CD11b+Ly6Chigh immune cells in the spleen, bloodstream (systemic immunity), and prostate (local immunity) were reduced. The infiltration of CD11b+ immune cells into the spleen and prostate was decreased. These findings suggested that Ningmitai can treat chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome by affecting systemic and local immunities through the CCL2-MAPK pathway.

ICA II Alleviates Testicular Torsion Injury by Dampening the Oxidative and Inflammatory Stress.

Testicular torsion-detorsion is an ischaemia-reperfusion-induced male gonad injury that may lead to male infertility. Oxidative stress plays an important role in the ischaemia-reperfusion injury. Icariside II (ICA II) prevents oxidative stress and has obvious protective effects on spermatogenic function. The present study was aimed to investigate therapeutic potentials of ICA II on testicular torsion. 72 mice were randomly divided into three groups: sham-operated control group (n = 24), testicular ischemia-reperfusion + saline group (n = 24) and testicular ischemia-reperfusion + icariside II treated group (n = 24). Testicular ischemia-reperfusion was induced by the left testis rotated 360 degrees in a clockwise direction for 30 minutes followed by detorsion, the contralateral testis was removed. ICA II in saline (5 mg/kg/day) was administrated by gavage immediately after detorsion. The results demonstrated that ICA II alleviated testicular damage by mitigating spermatogenic cell injury and improving testosterone production in mouse models of testicular torsion. We revealed that ICA II alleviated oxidative stress and apoptosis in the testes, reduced inflammatory infiltration and accelerated angiogenesis. Briefly, ICA II administration ameliorated testicular damage by improving spermatogenic function and testosterone production, which supports its use as a pharmacological treatment of testicular torsion.

IL-1ß-primed mesenchymal stromal cells exert enhanced therapeutic effects to alleviate Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome through systemic immunity.

BACKGROUND: Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) seriously affects patient health. Despite the elusiveness of innate therapeutic effects, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) hold great promise for inflammation-related diseases. Recent evidence indicates that disease-specific inflammatory cytokines could enhance the therapeutic effects of MSCs. METHODS: By establishing a CP/CPPS mouse model and pretreating MSCs with the cytokine interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), we studied the IL-1ß-primed MSC immunoregulatory ability and targeted migration ability in vitro and in CP/CPPS mice. RESULTS: IL-1ß levels significantly increased in the prostate tissue and serum of experimental autoimmune prostatitis (EAP) mice. Pretreatment with IL-1ß enhanced the immunomodulatory potential and targeted migration of MSCs in vitro. Furthermore, intravenous infusion of IL-1ß-primed MSCs dampened inflammation in prostate tissues and alleviated hyperalgesia in EAP mice. The infused MSCs inhibited monocyte infiltration and promoted regulatory T lymphocyte formation in prostate tissue, thus remodeling the local environment. Surprisingly, IL-1ß-primed MSCs exhibited improved accumulation in the spleen but not in prostate tissue. Accordingly, infused MSCs reshaped systemic immunity by reducing the proportion of Ly6ChighCD11b+ monocytes and boosting the proportion of CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T lymphocytes in the spleen and lung. Inflammatory chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) decreased through the downregulation of the NF-κB and JNK/MAPK pathways by inflammatory resolution via MSCs infusion to alleviate pain. CONCLUSION: In summary, IL-1ß-primed MSCs restored systemic immunologic homeostasis to alleviate CP/CPPS by modulating systemic immunity. These findings provide a novel strategy to boost the therapeutic effects of MSC-based therapy for CP/CPPS and reveal the essential role of systematic immunity in the treatment of CP/CPPS with MSC infusion.

CCR2-engineered mesenchymal stromal cells accelerate diabetic wound healing by restoring immunological homeostasis.

Impaired wound healing presents great health risks to patients. While encouraging, the current clinical successes of mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)-based therapies for tissue repair have been limited. Genetic engineering could endow MSCs with more robust regenerative capacities. Here, we identified that C-C motif chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) overexpression enhanced the targeted migration and immunoregulatory potential of MSCs in response to C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) in vitro. Intravenously infusion of CCR2-engineered MSCs (MSCsCCR2) exhibited improved homing efficiencies to injured sites and lungs of diabetic mice. Accordingly, MSCCCR2 infusion inhibited monocyte infiltration, reshaped macrophage inflammatory properties, prompted the accumulation of regulatory T cells (Treg cells) in injured sites, and reshaped systemic immune responses via the lung and spleen in mouse diabetic wound models. In summary, CCR2-engineered MSCs restore immunological homeostasis to accelerate diabetic wound healing via their improved homing and immunoregulatory potentials in response to CCL2. Therefore, these findings provide a novel strategy to explore genetically engineered MSCs as tools to facilitate tissue repair in diabetic wounds.

Mitochondrial complex I deficiency leads to the retardation of early embryonic development in Ndufs4 knockout mice.

BACKGROUND: The NDUFS4 gene encodes an 18-kD subunit of mitochondria complex I, and mutations in this gene lead to the development of a severe neurodegenerative disease called Leigh syndrome (LS) in humans. To investigate the disease phenotypes and molecular mechanisms of Leigh syndrome, the Ndufs4 knockout (KO) mouse has been widely used as a novel animal model. Because the homozygotes cannot survive beyond child-bearing age, whether Ndufs4 and mitochondrial complex I influence early embryonic development remains unknown. In our study, we attempted to investigate embryonic development in Ndufs4 KO mice, which can be regarded as a Leigh disease model and were created through the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat) and Cas9 (CRISPR associated)-mediated genome editing system. METHODS: We first designed a single guide RNA (sgRNA) targeting exon 2 of Ndufs4 to delete the NDUFS4 protein in mouse embryos to mimic Leigh syndrome. Then, we described the phenotypes of our mouse model by forced swimming and the open-field test as well as by assessing other behavioral characteristics. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was performed to obtain KO embryos to test the influence of NDUFS4 deletion on early embryonic development. RESULTS: In this study, we first generated Ndufs4 KO mice with physical and behavioral phenotypes similar to Leigh syndrome using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The low developmental rate of KO embryos that were derived from knockout gametes indicated that the absence of NDUFS4 impaired the development of preimplantation embryos. DISCUSSION: In this paper, we first obtained Ndufs4 KO mice that could mimic Leigh syndrome using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Then, we identified the role of NDUFS4 in early embryonic development, shedding light on its roles in the respiratory chain and fertility. Our model provides a useful tool with which to investigate the function of Ndufs4. Although the pathological mechanisms of the disease need to be discovered, it helps to understand the pathogenesis of NDUFS4 deficiency in mice and its effects on human diseases.