Stem Cell Research & Therapy (Jul 2020)

Nonadherent culture method promotes MSC-mediated vascularization in myocardial infarction via miR-519d/VEGFA pathway

  • Baoping Deng,
  • Xianlan Zhang,
  • Yi Liang,
  • Haiming Jiang,
  • Weizhao Huang,
  • Yinmeng Wu,
  • Weiping Deng

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13287-020-01780-x
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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Abstract Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can provide therapeutic benefits for myocardial infarction (MI) recovery; however, the molecular mechanism by which MSCs improve the heart function is unclear. Methods Microarray analysis was performed to examine the expression profiling of human MSCs (hMSCs) grown as adherent cultures (AC-hMSCs) or nonadherent cultures on ultra-low-adherent plates (nonAC-hMSCs). Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used to assess VEGFA expression and secretion in the AC-hMSCs and nonAC-hMSCs. The paracrine effect of VEGFA-overexpressing AC-MSCs (AC-VEGFA-hMSCs) or VEGFA-knockdown nonAC-hMSCs (nonAC-shVEGFA-hMSCs) on the angiogenic ability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was evaluated using tube formation assay. AC-VEGFA-hMSCs or nonAC-shVEGFA-hMSCs were transplanted into myocardial infarction rats to investigate the therapeutic effect of AC-VEGFA-hMSCs or nonAC-shVEGFA-hMSCs. Luciferase reporter assay was used to confirm the association of VEGFA with miR-519d. Results Microarray analysis revealed that VEGFA is downregulated in AC-hMSCs compared to nonAC-hMSCs. Functional assays revealed that high levels of VEGFA produced from AC-VEGFA-hMSCs increased the tube formation capacity of HUVECs in vitro, improved angiogenesis and cardiac performance, and reduced infarct size in a rat MI model. Low levels of VEGFA secretion from nonAC-shVEGFA-hMSCs had the opposite effects. Mechanistically, we found that miR-519d directly targets VEGFA. High levels of VEGFA secreted from VEGFA-overexpressing nonAC-hMSCs abolished the repressive effect of miR-519d on HUVEC angiogenesis. Conclusion Our findings indicate that nonadherent culture-induced secretion of VEGFA plays an important role in MSCs via the miR-519d/VEGFA pathway and may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for MI treatment.

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