Pharmaceutics (Nov 2021)

Interaction between Macrophages and Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Derived from Bone Marrow and Wharton’s Jelly—A Comparative Study

  • Marta Dymowska,
  • Aleksandra Aksamit,
  • Katarzyna Zielniok,
  • Monika Kniotek,
  • Beata Kaleta,
  • Aleksander Roszczyk,
  • Michal Zych,
  • Filip Dabrowski,
  • Leszek Paczek,
  • Anna Burdzinska

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13111822
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 11
p. 1822

Abstract

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Despite intensive clinical research on the use of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), further basic research in this field is still required. Herein, we compared human bone marrow MSCs (BM-MSCs, n = 6) and Wharton’s jelly MSCs (WJ-MSCs, n = 6) in their ability to interact with human primary macrophages. Evaluation of secretory potential revealed that under pro-inflammatory stimulation, WJ-MSCs secreted significantly more IL-6 than BM-MSCs (2-fold). This difference did not translate into the effect of MSCs on macrophages: both types of MSCs significantly directed M1-like macrophages toward the M2 phenotype (based on CD206 expression) to a similar extent. This observation was consistent both in flow cytometry analysis and immunocytochemical assessment. The effect of MSCs on macrophages was sustained when IL-6 signaling was blocked with Tocilizumab. Macrophages, regardless of polarization status, enhanced chemotaxis of both BM-MSCs and WJ-MSCs (p < 0.01; trans-well assay), with WJ-MSCs being significantly more responsive to M1-derived chemotactic signals than BM-MSCs. Furthermore, WJ-MSCs increased their motility (scratch assay) when exposed to macrophage-conditioned medium while BM-MSCs did not. These results indicate that although both BM-MSCs and WJ-MSCs have the ability to reciprocally interact with macrophages, the source of MSCs could slightly but significantly modify the response under clinical settings.

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