Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
2094633 Stem Cell Research 2012 16 Pages PDF
Abstract

Cells resembling bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been isolated from many organs but their functional relationships have not been thoroughly examined. Here we compared the immunophenotype, gene expression, multipotency and immunosuppressive potential of MSC-like colony-forming cells from adult murine bone marrow (bmMSC), kidney (kCFU-F) and heart (cCFU-F), cultured under uniform conditions. All populations showed classic MSC morphology and in vitro mesodermal multipotency. Of the two solid organ-specific CFU-F, only kCFU-F displayed suppression of T-cell alloreactivity in vitro, albeit to a lesser extent than bmMSC. Quantitative immunophenotyping using 81 phycoerythrin-conjugated CD antibodies demonstrated that all populations contained high percentages of cells expressing diagnostic MSC surface markers (Sca1, CD90.2, CD29, CD44), as well as others noted previously on murine MSC (CD24, CD49e, CD51, CD80, CD81, CD105). Illumina microarray expression profiling and bioinformatic analysis indicated a correlation of gene expression of 0.88–0.92 between pairwise comparisons. All populations expressed approximately 66% of genes in the pluripotency network (Plurinet), presumably reflecting their stem-like character. Furthermore, all populations expressed genes involved in immunomodulation, homing and tissue repair, suggesting these as conserved functions for MSC-like cells in solid organs. Despite this molecular congruence, strong biases in gene and protein expression and pathway activity were seen, suggesting organ-specific functions. Hence, tissue-derived MSC may also retain unique properties potentially rendering them more appropriate as cellular therapeutic agents for their organ of origin.

► Direct phenotypic comparisons between heart, kidney and bone/bone marrow MSCs. ► Strong congruence between immunophenotype and gene expression between populations. ► All immunopositive for Sca1, CD90.2, CD29, CD44, CD24, CD49e, CD51, CD81 and CD105. ► bmMSC and kidney MSC displayed immunosuppressive activity. ► Immunophenotype / gene expression differences reflected memory of tissue of origin.

Related Topics
Life Sciences Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology Biotechnology
Authors
, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,