Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) display a remarkable ability to modulate the immune response and protect the central nervous system mainly through the release of soluble factors in a paracrine fashion, affecting the functional behavior of cells in the tissues. Here we investigated the effect of the interaction between MSC and microglia in vitro, and we dissected the molecular and cellular mechanisms of this crosstalk. We demonstrated that MSC impair microglia activation by inflammatory cues through the inhibition of the expression and release of inflammatory molecules and stress-associated proteins. We showed that MSC significantly increase microglial expression and release of molecules associated with a neuroprotective phenotype such as CX3CR1, nuclear receptor 4 family, CD200 receptor, and insulin growth factor 1. Interestingly, MSC can enhance functional changes on microglia as depicted by the increase of intracellular calcium concentration and phagocytic activity. This last event is associated with an increased expression of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2, an innate immune receptor involved in phagocytosis in the absence of inflammation. The observed effects on CX3CR1-expressing microglia are due to the release of CX3CL1 by MSC, driven by inflammatory signals, as demonstrated by the reversal of the observed results when CX3CL1 expression was silenced in MSC or its release was blocked. Finally, we showed that exogenous CX3CL1 induce phenotypic and functional changes of microglia similar to those induced by MSC. These findings demonstrate that MSC instruct, through the release of CX3CL1, microglia responsiveness to proinflammatory signals by modulating constitutive ''calming'' receptors, typically expressed by ''steady-state microglia'' thus switching microglia from a detrimental phenotype to a neuroprotective one.

1These authors contributed equally to this study.Abbreviations used: CAT, catalase; CM, conditioned medium; EAE, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; GFAP, glial fibrillary acid protein; GST, glutathione-S-transferase; MOG, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide; MS, multiple sclerosis; MSC, mesenchimal stem cell; MT, metallothionein; NeuN, neuronal nuclei; PARP-1, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; RPMI, Royal Park Memorial Institute; SOD, superoxide dismutase. AbstractExperimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for human multiple sclerosis, is characterized by demyelination, inflammation and neurodegeneration of CNS in which free radicals play a role. Recently, the efficacy of murine mesenchimal stem cells (MSCs) as treatment of EAE induced in mice by the encephalitogenic peptide MOG(35-55) was demonstrated. The present study analyzed some markers of oxidative stress, inflammation/degeneration and apoptosis such as metallothioneins (MTs), antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione-S-transferase), poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 and p53 during EAE progression and following MSC treatment. Expression of the three brain MT isoforms increased significantly in EAE mice compared with healthy controls, but while expression of MT-1 and MT-3 increased along EAE course, MT-2 was up-regulated at the onset, but returned to levels similar to those of controls in chronic phase. The changes in the transcription and activity of the antioxidant enzymes and in expression of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 and p53 showed the same kinetics observed for MT-1 and MT-3 during EAE. Interestingly, i.v. administration of MSCs reduced the EAE-induced increases in levels/activities of all these proteins. These results support an antioxidant and neuroprotective activity for MSCs that was also confirmed in vitro on neuroblastoma cells exposed to an oxidative insult.

Despite some advances in the understanding of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathogenesis, significant achievements in treating this disease are still lacking. Mesenchymal stromal (stem) cells (MSCs) have been shown to be effective in several models of neurological disease. To determine the effects of the intravenous injection of MSCs in an ALS mouse model during the symptomatic stage of disease, MSCs (1 × 10 6 ) were intravenously injected in mice expressing human superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) carrying the G93A mutation (SOD1/G93A) presenting with experimental ALS. Survival, motor abilities, histology, oxidative stress markers and [ 3 H]D-aspartate release in the spinal cord were investigated. MSC injection in SOD1/G93A mice improved survival and motor functions compared with saline-injected controls. Injected MSCs scantly home to the central nervous system and poorly engraft. We observed a reduced accumulation of ubiquitin agglomerates and of activated astrocytes and microglia in the spinal cord of MSC-treated SOD1/G93A mice, with no changes in the number of choline acetyltransferase-and glutamate transporter type 1-positive cells. MSC administration turned around the upregulation of metallothionein mRNA expression and of the activity of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione S-transferase, both associated with disease progression. Last, we observed that MSCs reverted both spontaneous and stimulus-evoked neuronal release of [ 3 H]D-aspartate, a marker of endogenous glutamate, which is upregulated in SOD1/G93A mice. These findings suggest that intravenous administration of MSCs significantly improves the clinical outcome and pathological scores of mutant SOD1/G93A mice, thus providing the rationale for their exploitation for the treatment of ALS.

Transgenic mice overexpressing spermine oxidase (SMO) in the cerebral cortex (Dach-SMO mice) showed increased vulnerability to excitotoxic brain injury and kainate-induced epileptic seizures. To investigate the mechanisms by which SMO overexpression leads to increased susceptibility to kainate excitotoxicity and seizure, in the cerebral cortex of Dach-SMO and control mice we assessed markers for astrocyte proliferation and neuron loss, and the ability of kainate to evoke glutamate release from nerve terminals and astrocyte processes. Moreover, we assessed a possible role of astrocytes in an in vitro model of epileptic-like activity in combined cortico-hippocampal slices recorded with a multi-electrode array device. In parallel, as the brain is a major metabolizer of oxygen and yet has relatively feeble protective antioxidant mechanisms, we analyzed the oxidative status of the cerebral cortex of both SMO-overexpressing and control mice by evaluating enzymatic and non-enzymatic scavengers such as metallothioneins. The main findings in the cerebral cortex of Dach-SMO mice as compared to controls are the following: astrocyte activation and neuron loss; increased oxidative stress and activation of defense mechanisms involving both neurons and astrocytes; increased susceptibility to kainate-evoked cortical epileptogenic activity, dependent on astrocyte function; appearance of a glutamate-releasing response to kainate from astrocyte processes due to activation of Ca(2+)-permeable AMPA receptors in Dach-SMO mice. We conclude that reactive astrocytosis and activation of glutamate release from astrocyte processes might contribute, together with increased reactive oxygen species production, to the vulnerability to kainate excitotoxicity in Dach-SMO mice. This mouse model with a deregulated polyamine metabolism would shed light on roles for astrocytes in increasing vulnerability to excitotoxic neuron injury.

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