Impact of Three Different Serum Sources on Functional Properties of Equine Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.
Authors: Pezzanite Lynn, Chow Lyndah, Griffenhagen Gregg, Dow Steven, Goodrich Laurie
Journal: Frontiers in veterinary science
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Serum Source Effects on Equine MSC Function Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are increasingly used in equine regenerative medicine, but their culture medium significantly influences clinical efficacy. Researchers compared MSCs from three donor horses cultured in fetal bovine serum (FBS)—the standard—versus autologous or allogeneic equine serum for 72 hours before measuring viability, proliferation, immunomodulatory capacity, antimicrobial activity, and chondrogenic potential. Cells grown in FBS demonstrated superior functionality across multiple parameters: they doubled faster, secreted substantially higher levels of immunomodulatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, IL-17, RANTES, GM-CSF, FGF-2, eotaxin) and antimicrobial peptides (cathelicidin/LL-37), and displayed greater spontaneous bactericidal activity—notably without affecting chondrogenic differentiation capacity. By contrast, autologous and allogeneic equine serum produced equivalent results to one another, suggesting little practical benefit to the additional expense and complexity of sourcing patient-matched serum. For equine professionals, this finding presents a pragmatic consideration: whilst switching to equine serum before administration might theoretically reduce xenogeneic antigenicity, it appears to compromise the therapeutic potency of MSCs during the critical expansion phase, meaning the immunosuppressive and antimicrobial properties integral to MSC efficacy are diminished by the time cells reach the injection site.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •If using MSC therapies clinically, understand that FBS-cultured cells may provide superior immunomodulatory and antimicrobial function compared to equine serum alternatives—the xenogeneic protein risk must be balanced against reduced cell functionality
- •When choosing between autologous or allogeneic equine serum for pre-administration culture switching, expect equivalent functional outcomes; your choice can be based on logistical rather than efficacy considerations
- •Consider that switching culture medium in the 72 hours before injection compromises MSC potency across multiple functional parameters; this may affect clinical outcomes if functional cell activity is critical to your therapeutic goal
Key Findings
- •MSCs cultured in FBS had significantly shorter cell doubling times compared to autologous or allogeneic equine serum
- •FBS-cultured MSCs secreted higher levels of 8 immunomodulatory cytokines and antimicrobial peptides including IL-4, IL-5, IL-17, RANTES, GM-CSF, FGF2, eotaxin, and cathelicidin/LL-37
- •FBS-cultured MSCs demonstrated greater spontaneous bactericidal activity than equine serum-cultured cells
- •No significant functional differences were observed between autologous and allogeneic equine serum culture conditions