Macrophages in immunopathology of atherosclerosis: a target for diagnostics and therapy.

Immunopathology plays important roles in the development of different life-threatening diseases, such as atherosclerosis and its consequences (acute myocardial infarction and stroke), cancer, chronic inflammatory diseases. Effective modulation of the immune system may significantly increase the efficacy of prevention and therapy efforts. Currently there are no marketed drugs capable of normalizing immune system function in an intrinsic and comprehensive way. Here, we describe a test system designed for complex analysis of monocyte activity in individuals to diagnose immunopathology and monitor treatment efficacy. This cell-based test system may also be useful for screening compounds with an immune-correcting effects. Both diagnostic and screening systems are based on primary culture of human monocytes and/or monocyte-derived macrophages. This is the first step in creating a method for assessment of macrophage activity, which is required for further development of immune-correcting drugs. The existing preliminary data provide the basis for realization of this idea.

Clonal composition of human multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells.

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MMSCs) are a heterogeneous population consisting of cells with a distinct proliferative potential. The aim of this study was to define clonal composition in MMSCs and trace the dynamics of individual clones in MMSC subpopulations with different proliferative potentials during the process of cultivation. The investigation was performed at single-cell level using genetically marked cells. Specifically, human bone marrow MMSCs were infected with a lentiviral vector-bearing marker gene. Integration site analysis was performed for clones at each passage by ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot hybridization. Sibling connections between clones and clonal composition of MMSC culture at each passage were revealed. The MMSC population contained multiple, different, mainly small, clones. It was found that large long-living clones with a high, but limited proliferative potential could be detected rarely in MMSCs population. These data suggest that the human MMSC population does not fit the "stem cell" criteria, however, MMSCs may contain a subpopulation of large clones with a high proliferative potential.