BackgroundMesenchymal stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis (OA) has been widely investigated, but the mechanisms are still unclear. Exosomes that serve as carriers of genetic information have been implicated in many diseases and are known to participate in many physiological processes. Here, we investigate the therapeutic potential of exosomes from human embryonic stem cell-induced mesenchymal stem cells (ESC-MSCs) in alleviating osteoarthritis (OA).MethodsExosomes were harvested from conditioned culture media of ESC-MSCs by a sequential centrifugation process. Primary mouse chondrocytes treated with interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) were used as an in vitro model to evaluate the effects of the conditioned medium with or without exosomes and titrated doses of isolated exosomes for 48 hours, prior to immunocytochemistry or western blot analysis. Destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) surgery was performed on the knee joints of C57BL/6 J mice as an OA model. This was followed by intra-articular injection of either ESC-MSCs or their exosomes. Cartilage destruction and matrix degradation were evaluated with histological staining and OARSI scores at the post-surgery 8 weeks.ResultsWe found that intra-articular injection of ESC-MSCs alleviated cartilage destruction and matrix degradation in the DMM model. Further in vitro studies illustrated that this effect was exerted through ESC-MSC-derived exosomes. These exosomes maintained the chondrocyte phenotype by increasing collagen type II synthesis and decreasing ADAMTS5 expression in the presence of IL-1β. Immunocytochemistry revealed colocalization of the exosomes and collagen type II-positive chondrocytes. Subsequent intra-articular injection of exosomes derived from ESC-MSCs successfully impeded cartilage destruction in the DMM model.ConclusionsThe exosomes from ESC-MSCs exert a beneficial therapeutic effect on OA by balancing the synthesis and degradation of chondrocyte extracellular matrix (ECM), which in turn provides a new target for OA drug and drug-delivery system development.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-017-0632-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) attaches the fatty acid myristate to the N-terminal glycine of proteins to sort them into soluble and membrane-bound fractions. Function of the energy-sensing AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is myristoylation-dependent. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), pathogenic T cells shift glucose away from ATP production towards synthetic and proliferative programs, promoting proliferation, cytokine production, and tissue invasion. We found that RA T cells have a defect in NMT1 function, which prevented AMPK activation and enabled unopposed mTORC1 signaling. Lack of the myristate lipid tail disrupted the lysosomal translocation and activation of AMPK. Instead, myristoylation-incompetent RA T cells hyperactivated the mTORC1 pathway and differentiated into pro-inflammatory T H 1 and T H 17 T helper cells. In vivo, NMT1 loss caused robust synovial tissue inflammation, whereas forced NMT1 overexpression rescued AMPK activation and suppressed synovitis. Thus, NMT1 has tissue-protective functions by facilitating lysosomal recruitment of AMPK and dampening of mTORC1 signaling.

Nestin defines a novel tendon stem/progenitor cell subpopulation with high tenogenesis potential.

Highlights d The DNA repair nuclease MRE11A is located in mitochondria d Mitochondrial MRE11A protects mtDNA from oxidation and cytoplasmic leakage d MRE11A low T cells fail to produce ATP and undergo caspase-1-dependent pyroptosis d MRE11A loss of function results in tissue inflammation

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Like other autoimmune diseases, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) develops in distinct stages, with each phase of disease linked to immune cell dysfunction. HLA class II genes confer the strongest genetic risk to develop RA. They encode for molecules essential in the activation and differentiation of T cells, placing T cells upstream in the immunopathology. In Phase 1 of the RA disease process, T cells lose a fundamental function, their ability to be self-tolerant, and provide help for autoantibody-producing B cells. Phase 2 begins many years later, when mis-differentiated T cells gain tissue-invasive effector functions, enter the joint, promote non-resolving inflammation, and give rise to clinically relevant arthritis. In Phase 3 of the RA disease process, abnormal innate immune functions are added to adaptive autoimmunity, converting synovial inflammation into a tissue-destructive process that erodes cartilage and bone. Emerging data have implicated metabolic mis-regulation as a fundamental pathogenic pathway in all phases of RA. Early in their life cycle, RA T cells fail to repair mitochondrial DNA, resulting in a malfunctioning metabolic machinery. Mitochondrial insufficiency is aggravated by the mis-trafficking of the energy sensor AMPK away from the lysosomal surface. The metabolic signature of RA T cells is characterized by the shunting of glucose toward the pentose phosphate pathway and toward biosynthetic activity. During the intermediate and terminal phase of RA-imposed tissue inflammation, tissue-residing macrophages, T cells, B cells and stromal cells are chronically activated and under high metabolic stress, creating a microenvironment poor in oxygen and glucose, but rich in metabolic intermediates, such as lactate. By sensing tissue lactate, synovial T cells lose their mobility and are trapped in the tissue niche. The linkage of defective DNA repair, misbalanced metabolic pathways, autoimmunity, and tissue inflammation in RA encourages metabolic interference as a novel treatment strategy during both the early stages of tolerance breakdown and the late stages of tissue inflammation. Defining and targeting metabolic abnormalities provides a new paradigm to treat, or even prevent, the cellular defects underlying autoimmune disease.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the role of metformin in the regulation of development and metastasis of ovarian carcinoma cell lines in vitro and ovarian cancer in a nude mouse model in vivo. The effects of metformin on the ability of two high-metastatic potential human ovarian cancer cell lines (SKOV3 and HO8910-PM) to adhere, invade and migrate in vitro were observed by means of a cell adhesion test, cell invasion test and cell migration test. The size and number of the inoculated and metastatic tumours in vivo in a nude mouse were determined following intraperitoneal injection of metformin. Furthermore, the extent of angiogenesis (vWF) and macrophage infiltration in the tumour were determined. Proliferation, migration, invasion and adhesion of ovarian cancer cells were significantly inhibited (P<0.05) in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. In addition, metformin inhibited hepatic, intestinal and lung metastasis (P<0.05), with no weight loss in vivo, consistent with decreased expression of vWF and macrophage infiltration. Our data suggest that metformin inhibits the development and metastasis of ovarian cancer by reducing cellular-ECM interactions, neovascularisation and macrophage infiltration.