Short-Lived Human Umbilical Cord-Blood-Derived Neural Stem Cells Influence the Endogenous Secretome and Increase the Number of Endogenous Neural Progenitors in a Rat Model of Lacunar Stroke.

Stroke is the leading cause of severe disability, and lacunar stroke is related to cognitive decline and hemiparesis. There is no effective treatment for the majority of patients with stroke. Thus, stem cell-based regenerative medicine has drawn a growing body of attention due to the capabilities for trophic factor expression and neurogenesis enhancement. Moreover, it was shown in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model that even short-lived stem cells can be therapeutic, and we have previously observed that phenomenon indirectly. Here, in a rat model of lacunar stroke, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the positive therapeutic effects of short-lived human umbilical cord-blood-derived neural stem cells (HUCB-NSCs) through the distinct measurement of exogenous human and endogenous rat trophic factors. We have also evaluated neurogenesis and metalloproteinase activity as cellular components of therapeutic activity. As expected, we observed an increased proliferation and migration of progenitors, as well as metalloproteinase activity up to 14 days post transplantation. These changes were most prominent at the 7-day time point when we observed 30 % increases in the number of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive cells in HUCB-NSC transplanted animals. The expression of human trophic factors was present until 7 days post transplantation, which correlated well with the survival of the human graft. For these 7 days, the level of messenger RNA (mRNA) in the analyzed trophic factors was from 300-fold for CNTF to 10,000-fold for IGF, much higher compared to constitutive expression in HUCB-NSCs in vitro. What is interesting is that there was no increase in the expression of rat trophic factors during the human graft survival, compared to that in non-transplanted animals. However, there was a prolongation of a period of increased trophic expression until 14 days post transplantation, while, in non-transplanted animals, there was a significant drop in rat trophic expression at that time point. We conclude that the positive therapeutic effect of short-lived stem cells may be related to the net increase in the amount of trophic factors (rat + human) until graft death and to the prolonged increase in rat trophic factor expression subsequently.

Ammonia increases paracellular permeability of rat brain endothelial cells by a mechanism encompassing oxidative/nitrosative stress and activation of matrix metalloproteinases.

Ammonia is responsible for cerebral edema associated with acute liver failure, but the role of the vasogenic mechanism has been a matter of dispute. Here, we tested the hypothesis that ammonia induces changes in blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability by a mechanism coupled to oxidative/nitrosative stress (ONS) evoked in the BBB-forming cerebral capillary endothelial cells. Treatment of a rat brain endothelial cell line with ammonia (5 mmol/L, 24 h) caused accumulation of ONS markers: reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide and peroxidation products of phospholipid-bound arachidonic acid, F2-isoprostanes. Concurrently, ammonia increased the activity of extracellular matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2/MMP-9), increased cell permeability to fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (40 kDa), and increased the expression of y+LAT2, a transporter that mediates the uptake to the cells of the nitric oxide precursor, arginine. The increase of cell permeability was ameliorated upon co-treatment with a MMP inhibitor, SB-3CT and with an antioxidant, glutathione diethyl ester, which also reduced F2-isoprostanes. Ammonia-induced ONS was attenuated by cytoprotective agents l-ornithine, phenylbutyrate, and their conjugate l-ornithine phenylbutyrate, an ammonia-trapping drug used to treat hyperammonemia. The results support the concept that ONS and ONS-related activation of MMPs in cerebral capillary endothelial cells contribute to the alterations in BBB permeability and to the vasogenic component of cerebral edema associated with acute liver failure.

The potential role of metalloproteinases in neurogenesis in the gerbil hippocampus following global forebrain ischemia.

BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have recently been considered to be involved in the neurogenic response of adult neural stem/progenitor cells. However, there is a lack of information showing direct association between the activation of MMPs and the development of neuronal progenitor cells involving proliferation and/or further differentiation in vulnerable (Cornus Ammoni-CA1) and resistant (dentate gyrus-DG) to ischemic injury areas of the brain hippocampus. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We showed that dynamics of MMPs activation in the dentate gyrus correlated closely with the rate of proliferation and differentiation of progenitor cells into mature neurons. In contrast, in the damaged CA1 pyramidal cells layer, despite the fact that some proliferating cells exhibited antigen specific characteristic of newborn neuronal cells, these did not attain maturity. This coincides with the low, near control-level, activity of MMPs. The above results are supported by our in vitro study showing that MMP inhibitors interfered with both the proliferation and differentiation of the human neural stem cell line derived from umbilical cord blood (HUCB-NSCs) toward the neuronal lineage. CONCLUSION: Taken together, the spatial and temporal profiles of MMPs activity suggest that these proteinases could be an important component in neurogenesis-associated processes in post-ischemic brain hippocampus.

Regulation of neurogenesis by extracellular matrix and integrins.

Deciphering the factors that regulate human neural stem cells will greatly aid in their use as models of development and as therapeutic agents. The complex interactions of cells with extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins probably contribute to proper central nervous system development mediating processes which regulate proliferation and differentiation of neural stem/rogenitor cells. Many of these interactions involve transmembrane integrin receptors. Integrins cluster in specific cell-matrix adhesions to provide dynamic links between extracellular and intracellular environments by activation of numerous signal transduction pathways which may influence cell behaviour profoundly by influence on both gene expression and post-transcriptional signalling cascade. In this review we introduced and discussed a number of extracellular and intracellular factors engaged in the transduction of signals induced by cell adhesion to its environment, including matrix components, extracellular proteolytic enzymes, integrins and non-receptor tyrosine kinases.

Effect of matrix metalloproteinases inhibition on the proliferation and differentiation of HUCB-NSCs cultured in the presence of adhesive substrates.

Cell adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM) generates intracellular signals that modulate cell survival, proliferation, migration and differentiation. Because of its heterogeneous nature, ECM has the potential to induce unique responses that are composition-dependent. One approach to study the effect of ECM signals on cell development, independently on signals from other extracellular sources, has been to deprive cells of serum and to analyze the influence of specific ligands. In the current work we determine the potential of different ECM proteins (fibronectin, laminin, collagen) on the proliferation and differentiation of human umbilical cord blood-derived neural stem cells (HUCB-NSCs) cultured in serum-free conditions. The effect of tested ECM components on the above processes might be associated with the particular pattern of their proteolysis. In this context enzymes that are responsible for the modification of ECM proteins are of particular pertinence. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) represent a family of enzymes known to play role in the modification of ECM and by this can change the cell-ECM substrate interaction, required for cell development. In an effort to elucidate the participation of MMPs in the proliferation and differentiation HUCB-NSCs were cultured in the presence or absence of MMPs inhibitors - GM6001 and doxycycline. Our results show that addition of the above inhibitors interfered with both the proliferation and differentiation of progenitor cells toward the neuronal lineage. This effect depends on the adhesive ECM substrate and is most pronounced in the presence of fibronectin and laminin. In conclusion, our results suggest that MMPs modulate interaction between HUCB-NSCs and their environment and therefore might be an important component in neurogenesis-associated processes.