Adenoviral transduction of mesenchymal stem cells: in vitro responses and in vivo immune responses after cell transplantation

PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e42662. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042662. Epub 2012 Aug 6.

Abstract

Adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are non-hematopoietic cells with multi-lineage potential which makes them attractive targets for regenerative medicine applications. However, to date, therapeutic success of MSC-therapy is limited and the genetic modification of MSCs using viral vectors is one option to improve their therapeutic potential. Ex-vivo genetic modification of MSCs using recombinant adenovirus (Ad) could be promising to reduce undesired immune responses as Ad will be removed before cell/tissue transplantation. In this regard, we investigated whether Ad-modification of MSCs alters their immunological properties in vitro and in vivo. We found that Ad-transduction of MSCs does not lead to up-regulation of major histocompatibility complex class I and II and co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86. Moreover, Ad-transduction caused no significant changes in terms of pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, chemokine and chemokine receptor and Toll-like receptor expression. In addition, Ad-modification of MSCs had no affect on their ability to suppress T cell proliferation in vitro. In vivo injection of Ad-transduced MSCs did not change the frequency of various immune cell populations (antigen presenting cells, T helper and cytotoxic T cells, natural killer and natural killer T cells) neither in the blood nor in tissues. Our results indicate that Ad-modification has no major influence on the immunological properties of MSCs and therefore can be considered as a suitable gene vector for therapeutic applications of MSCs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenoviridae / genetics*
  • Animals
  • Cell Differentiation / immunology
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Immunity / immunology*
  • Immunophenotyping
  • Male
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / immunology*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / virology*
  • Mice
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Receptors, Chemokine / genetics
  • Receptors, Chemokine / metabolism
  • Toll-Like Receptors / genetics
  • Toll-Like Receptors / metabolism
  • Transduction, Genetic*

Substances

  • RNA, Messenger
  • Receptors, Chemokine
  • Toll-Like Receptors

Grants and funding

This material is based upon works supported by the Science Foundation Ireland (www.sfi.ie) under Grant No. [07/IN.1/B925 and 09/SRC/B1794] and by the Health Research Board (www.hrb.ie) under Grant No. [RP/2007/60]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.