Characterization and priming of equine muscle-derived mesenchymal stem cells to enhance their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory profiles.
Authors: Shahid Muhammad A, Guitart Albert Sole, Bertin François-René, Simon Olivier, Ceusters Justine, Serteyn Didier, Whitworth Deanne J
Journal: Frontiers in veterinary science
Summary
# Editorial Summary Researchers have developed a minimally invasive muscle microbiopsy technique to harvest mesenchymal stem cells (M-MSCs) from equine skeletal muscle, offering a practical alternative to bone marrow or adipose-derived sources for regenerative medicine applications. The team characterised baseline gene expression in these cells and tested how they responded to inflammatory priming—specifically exposure to TNF-α, IFN-γ, lipopolysaccharide, and heat shock—examining immunomodulatory pathways, growth factors, and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Priming with TNF-α and IFN-γ significantly upregulated genes associated with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory pathways, alongside tissue-repair markers; all M-MSCs expressed MHC-I constitutively, but only heat shock induced MHC-II expression, which was absent in untreated cells. Whilst considerable donor-to-donor variability existed in baseline expression and treatment responses, the findings support further investigation of M-MSCs for treating inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions in horses. For clinical translation, practitioners should anticipate the need for pre-treatment cellular characterisation in autologous applications and careful cell selection criteria in allogeneic protocols to ensure optimal therapeutic efficacy.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Muscle-derived MSCs offer a practical, minimally invasive source of therapeutic cells for treating inflammatory and immune conditions in horses
- •Pre-treatment characterization of MSCs is essential before clinical use because individual horses show significant variation in how their cells respond to priming
- •Priming protocols using TNF-α and IFN-γ can enhance the therapeutic properties of MSCs, but optimization and standardization are needed before clinical application
Key Findings
- •Equine muscle-derived mesenchymal stem cells (M-MSCs) can be isolated via minimally invasive microbiopsy, providing an accessible cell source for clinical use
- •Priming M-MSCs with TNF-α and IFN-γ significantly increased expression of anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory genes plus tissue repair factors
- •All M-MSCs constitutively expressed MHC-I but lacked MHC-II expression; only heat-shock induced MHC-II expression
- •Substantial inter-individual variation in gene expression and priming responses was observed between horses, necessitating pre-treatment cell characterization