RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The action of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is the subject of intense research in the field of regenerative medicine, including their potential use in companion animals, such as dogs. To ensure the safety of canine MSC batches for their application in regenerative medicine, a quality control test must be conducted in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Based on guidance provided by the European Medicines Agency, this study aimed to develop and validate a highly sensitive and robust, nucleic acid-based test panel for the detection of various canine pathogens. Analytical sensitivity, specificity, amplification efficiency, and linearity were evaluated to ensure robust assessment. Additionally, viable spike-in controls were used to control for optimal nucleic acid extraction. The conventional PCR-based and real-time PCR-based pathogen assays were evaluated in a real-life setting, by direct testing MSC batches. RESULTS: The established nucleic acid-based assays displayed remarkable sensitivity, detecting 100-1 copies/reaction of template DNA. They also exhibited high specificity and efficiency. Moreover, highly effective nucleic acid isolation was confirmed by the sensitive detection of spike-in controls. The detection capacity of our optimized and validated methods was determined by direct pathogen testing of nine MSC batches that displayed unusual phenotypes, such as reduced cell division or other deviating characteristics. Among these MCS batches of uncertain purity, only one tested negative for all pathogens. The direct testing of these samples yielded positive results for important canine pathogens, including tick-borne disease-associated species and viral members of the canine infectious respiratory disease complex (CIRDC). Notably, samples positive for the etiological agents responsible for enteritis (CPV), leptospirosis (Leptospira interrogans), and neosporosis (Neospora caninum) were also identified. Furthermore, we conducted biosafety evaluation of 12 MSC batches intended for therapeutic application. Eleven MSC batches were found to be free of extraneous agents, and only one tested positive for a specific pathogen, namely, canine parvovirus. CONCLUSION: In this study, we established and validated reliable, highly sensitive, and accurate nucleic acid-based testing methods for a broad spectrum of canine pathogens.
RESUMO
We have previously reported that RING1 and YY1 binding protein (RYBP) is important for central nervous system development in mice and that Rybp null mutant (Rybp-/-) mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells form more progenitors and less terminally differentiated neural cells than the wild type cells in vitro. Accelerated progenitor formation coincided with a high level of Pax6 expression in the Rybp-/- neural cultures. Since Pax6 is a retinoic acid (RA) inducible gene, we have analyzed whether altered RA signaling contributes to the accelerated progenitor formation and impaired differentiation ability of the Rybp-/- cells. Results suggested that elevated Pax6 expression was driven by the increased activity of the RA signaling pathway in the Rybp-/- neural cultures. RYBP was able to repress Pax6 through its P1 promoter. The repression was further attenuated when RING1, a core member of ncPRC1s was also present. According to this, RYBP and PAX6 were rarely localized in the same wild type cells during in vitro neural differentiation. These results suggest polycomb dependent regulation of Pax6 by RYBP during in vitro neural differentiation. Our results thus provide novel insights on the dynamic regulation of Pax6 and RA signaling by RYBP during mouse neural development.
