3D spheroid culture synchronizes heterogeneous mesenchymal stem cells into an immunomodulatory phenotype with enhanced suppressive effect on inflammation
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ABSTRACT: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are heterogeneous in morphology and transcriptome, resulting in varying therapeutic outcomes. In this study, we found that 3D spheroid culture of heterogeneous MSC, which have undergone conventional 2D monolayer culture for 5-6 passages, synchronized the cells into a uniform cell population with dramatically reduced cell size, and considerably increased levels of immunosuppressive genes and growth factors. Sc-RNA-Seq analysis of the cells revealed that 3D MSC consisted of 2 major cell subpopulations and both expressed high levels of immunosuppressive factors, compared to 6 subpopulations in 2D MSC. In addition, 3D MSC showed a greater suppressive effect on T cells. Moreover, intravenous infusion of a large dose of 3D MSC prior to Imiquimod (IMQ) treatment significantly improved psoriatic lesion. Thus, our results indicate that 3D spheroid culture reprograms heterogeneous mesenchymal stem cells into a uniform immunosuppressive phenotype and promises a novel therapeutic potential for inflammatory diseases.
Project description:Human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are conventionally cultured as adherent monolayers on tissue culture plastic. MSCs can also be cultured as 3D cell aggregates (spheroids). Optimised 3D conditions (60,000 MSCs cultured as a spheroid for 5 days) inhibited MSC proliferation and induced cell shrinkage in the absence of cell death. Primary human MSCs isolated from 2 donors were cultured under both monolayer (2D MSCs) and optimised 3D (3D MSCs) conditions. High quality RNA was isolated from all samples, and global gene expression analysis was performed in duplicate (using Agilent SurePrint G3 Human Gene Expression 8x60K v2 Microarrays) to identify gene expression changes in 3D compared to 2D MSC cultures.
Project description:TGFbeta/TNFalpha treated spheroid A549 cultures are a model of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). These experiments capture the changes in global gene expression that result from cells being induced to undergo EMT (3D control vs 3D treated), but also the differences in gene expression when A549 is grown in spheroid cultures (2D control vs 3D untreated). EMT is efficiently induced only in the spheroid culture model. A total of 8 samples are analyzed, corresponding to 4 conditions (2D control, 2D treated, 3D control, 3D treated) and 2 biological replicates.
Project description:TGFbeta/TNFalpha treated spheroid A549 cultures are a model of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). These experiments capture the changes in global gene expression that result from cells being induced to undergo EMT (3D control vs 3D treated), but also the differences in gene expression when A549 is grown in spheroid cultures (2D control vs 3D untreated). EMT is efficiently induced only in the spheroid culture model.
Project description:Development of systems allowing the maintenance of native properties of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) is a critical challenge for studying physiological functions of skeletal progenitors, as well as towards cellular therapy and regenerative medicine applications. Conventional stem cell culture in monolayer on plastic dishes (2D) is associated with progressive loss of functionality, likely due to the absence of a biomimetic microenvironment and the selection of adherent populations. Here we demonstrate that 2D MSC expansion can be entirely bypassed by culturing freshly isolated bone marrow cells within the pores of 3D scaffolds in a perfusion-based bioreactor system, followed by enzymatic digestion for cell retrieval. The 3D-perfusion system supported MSC growth while maintaining cells of the hematopoietic lineage, and thus generated a cellular environment mimicking some features of the bone marrow stroma. As compared to 2D-expansion, sorted CD45- cells derived from 3D-perfusion culture after the same time (3 weeks) or a similar extent of proliferation (7-8 doublings) maintained a 4.3-fold higher clonogenicity and exhibited a superior differentiation capacity towards all typical mesenchymal lineages, with similar immunomodulatory function in vitro. Transcriptomic analysis performed on MSC from 5 donors validated the robustness of the process and indicated a reduced inter-donor variability as well as a significant upregulation of multipotency-related gene clusters following 3D-perfusion as compared to 2D expansion. The described system offers a model to study how factors of a 3D engineered niche may regulate MSC function and, by streamlining conventional labor-intensive processes, is prone to automation and scalability within closed bioreactor systems. Nucleated cells were isolated from 5 fresh human bone marrow aspirates by means of red blood cells lyses buffer and then were seeded into a 3D perfusion bioreactor system using a pure hydroxyapatite 3D scaffold and in conventional Petri dishes (2D). After culture for 19 days, cells from both systems were enzymatically retrieved and sorted using anti-CD45-coated magnetic beads. Total RNA was extracted from CD45- cells, QCed and hybridized to Affymetrix microarrays.
Project description:We found significant difference between the 3D-spheroid cultured- and conventionally cultured mesenchymal stem cells (3D MSCs and 2D MSCs) in terms of anti-inflammatory response and ability to secrete trophic factors, implying that 3D MSCs may better improve the tissue repair and promote functional recovery. Next-generation sequencing has revolutionized system-based analysis of cellular pathways. The aims of this study are to compare the transcriptome profile between the 3D-spheroid cultured- and conventionally cultured mesenchymal stem cells (3D MSCs and 2D MSCs).
Project description:Development of systems allowing the maintenance of native properties of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) is a critical challenge for studying physiological functions of skeletal progenitors, as well as towards cellular therapy and regenerative medicine applications. Conventional stem cell culture in monolayer on plastic dishes (2D) is associated with progressive loss of functionality, likely due to the absence of a biomimetic microenvironment and the selection of adherent populations. Here we demonstrate that 2D MSC expansion can be entirely bypassed by culturing freshly isolated bone marrow cells within the pores of 3D scaffolds in a perfusion-based bioreactor system, followed by enzymatic digestion for cell retrieval. The 3D-perfusion system supported MSC growth while maintaining cells of the hematopoietic lineage, and thus generated a cellular environment mimicking some features of the bone marrow stroma. As compared to 2D-expansion, sorted CD45- cells derived from 3D-perfusion culture after the same time (3 weeks) or a similar extent of proliferation (7-8 doublings) maintained a 4.3-fold higher clonogenicity and exhibited a superior differentiation capacity towards all typical mesenchymal lineages, with similar immunomodulatory function in vitro. Transcriptomic analysis performed on MSC from 5 donors validated the robustness of the process and indicated a reduced inter-donor variability as well as a significant upregulation of multipotency-related gene clusters following 3D-perfusion as compared to 2D expansion. The described system offers a model to study how factors of a 3D engineered niche may regulate MSC function and, by streamlining conventional labor-intensive processes, is prone to automation and scalability within closed bioreactor systems.
Project description:Patient-derived cancer cells (PDCs) were established by three-dimensional (3D) spheroid culture from testicular germ cell tumor (GCT) specimens. Microarray expression analysis revealed that cancer stem-like cell-related genes were upregulated in 3D culture condition compared with two-dimensional (2D) culture condition.
Project description:Therapeutic benefits of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are now widely believed to come from their paracrine signalling, i.e. secreted factors such as cytokines, chemokines, and extracellular vesicles (EVs). Cell-free therapy using EVs is an active and emerging field in regenerative medicine. The cellular environment of MSCs is of critical importance when directing paracrine activity. Typical 2D cultivation of stem cells on tissue culture plastic is far removed from the physiological environment of MSCs. The application of 3D cell culture allows MSCs to adapt to their cellular niche environment which, in turn, influences their paracrine signalling activity. In this study we evaluated the impact of 3D MSCs culture on EVs secretion and cargo proteome composition and functional assessment. The outcome highlights critical differences between MSC-EVs obtained from different culture microenvironments, which should be considered when scaling up MSC culture for clinical manufacturing.
Project description:mRNA sequencing of mesenchymal stem cells in 2D culture systems, mesenchymal stem cells spheroids and mesenchymal stem cells/extracellular matrix in 3D culture systems to profile gene expressions
Project description:Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC), named EMSC here, have been found efficacious in animal models of autoimmune, inflammatory, and degenerative diseases. However, all the EMSC derivation methods reported so far are in two-dimensional (2D) culture systems, which are of low efficiency and high cost, difficult for large-scale production for research and therapeutic applications. Methods: We established a 3D system that allowed differentiation of hESC spheroids into MSC spheroids (EMSCSp) following treatment with BMP4 and A8301 for 5 days and subsequent culture in a MSC medium for about 15 days. All the procedures were conducted in one vessel without intermediate passaging. Results: EMSCsp cells were efficiently derived from hESC spheroids within 20 days in the 3D culture system, which could be scaled up from a small culture vessel to a 100-ml plastic bag. EMSCSp could further differentiate into spheroids of chondrocytes or adipocytes. EMSCSp could also reattach and form a 2D-monolayer culture (EMSCSp-ML). Compared to EMSC differentiated in monolayer, EMSCSp-ML had faster proliferation and higher yield, and developed less apoptosis and slower senescence. EMSCSp-ML also retained immune-modulatory effects in vitro and therapeutic effects on two mouse models of colitis. Conclusions: The 3D method provides a simple and economic system for large-scale production of EMSC as an unlimited source of the therapeutically promising cells.