Polyacrylate adsorbents for the selective adsorption of cholesterol-rich lipoproteins from plasma or blood

Polyacrylate (PAA) adsorbents selectively bind low density lipoproteins (LDL) from human plasma and blood, whereas very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) are only minimally adsorbed. The adsorption of cholesterol-rich lipoproteins to PAA adsorbents is related to the molecular weight (mw) of the polyanion ligand. Ca++ and Mg++ inhibit the binding of LDL to PAA adsorbents. The chemical composition of the organic hardgels of the adsorbents does not have an influence on adsorption. The selective adsorption of LDL to PAA adsorbents can be explained to result from their low negative surface charge density and the specific colloid-chemical properties of the surface-bound PAA, which do not prevent LDL from binding to charge-like domains of the ligand. By contrast, VLDL and high density lipoproteins (HDL) are repelled from the adsorbents due to their higher negative surface charge density

Donor Age of Human Platelet Lysate Affects Proliferation and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

The regenerative potential declines upon aging. This might be due to cell-intrinsic changes in stem and progenitor cells or to influences by the microenvironment. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) raise high hopes in regenerative medicine. They are usually culture expanded in media with fetal calf serum (FCS) or other serum supplements such as human platelet lysate (HPL). In this study, we have analyzed the impact of HPL-donor age on culture expansion. 31 single donor derived HPLs (25 to 57 years old) were simultaneously compared for culture of MSC. Proliferation of MSC did not reveal a clear association with platelet counts of HPL donors or growth factors concentrations (PDGF-AB, TGF-β1, bFGF, or IGF-1), but it was significantly higher with HPLs from younger donors (<35 years) as compared to older donors (>45 years). Furthermore, HPLs from older donors increased activity of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase (SA-βgal). HPL-donor age did not affect the fibroblastoid colony-forming unit (CFU-f) frequency, immunophenotype or induction of adipogenic differentiation, whereas osteogenic differentiation was significantly lower with HPLs from older donors. Concentrations of various growth factors (PDGF-AB, TGF-β1, bFGF, IGF-1) or hormones (estradiol, parathormone, leptin, 1,25 vitamin D3) were not associated with HPL-donor age or MSC growth. Taken together, our data support the notion that aging is associated with systemic feedback mechanisms acting on stem and progenitor cells, and this is also relevant for serum supplements in cell culture: HPLs derived from younger donors facilitate enhanced expansion and more pronounced osteogenic differentiation

The bidirectional tumor - mesenchymal stromal cell interaction promotes the progression of head and neck cancer

Introduction: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are an integral cellular component of the tumor microenvironment. Nevertheless, very little is known about MSC originating from human malignant tissue and modulation of these cells by tumor-derived factors. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize MSC from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and to investigate their interaction with tumor cells. Methods: MSC were isolated from tumor tissues of HNSCC patients during routine oncological surgery. Immunophenotyping, immunofluorescence and in vitro differentiation were performed to determine whether the isolated cells met the consensus criteria for MSC. The cytokine profile of tumor-derived MSC was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Activation of MSC by tumor-conditioned media was assessed by measuring cytokine release and expression of CD54. The impact of MSC on tumor growth in vivo was analyzed in a HNSCC xenograft model. Results: Cells isolated from HNSCC tissue met the consensus criteria for MSC. Tumor-derived MSC constitutively produced high amounts of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1α. HNSCC-derived factors activated MSC and enhanced secretion of IL-8 and expression of CD54. Furthermore, MSC provided stromal support for human HNSCC cell lines in vivo and enhanced their growth in a murine xenograft model. Conclusions: This is the first study to isolate and characterize MSC from malignant tissues of patients with HNSCC. We observed cross-talk of stromal cells and tumor cells resulting in enhanced growth of HNSCC in vivo

Human platelet lysate gel provides a novel three dimensional-matrix for enhanced culture expansion of mesenchymal stromal cells.

Cell culture in regenerative medicine needs to facilitate efficient expansion according to good manufacturing practice requirements. Human platelet lysate (HPL) can be used as a substitute for fetal calf serum without the risk of xenogeneic immune reactions or transmission of bovine pathogens. Heparin needs to be added as anticoagulant before addition of HPL to culture medium; otherwise, HPL-medium forms a gel within 1 h. Here, we demonstrated that such HPL-gels provide a suitable 3D-matrix for cell culture that-apart from heparin-consists of the same components as the over-layered culture medium. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) grew in several layers at the interface between HPL-gel and HPL-medium without contact with any artificial biomaterials. Notably, proliferation of MSCs was much higher on HPL-gel compared with tissue culture plastic. Further, the frequency of initial fibroblastoid colony forming units (CFU-f) increased on HPL-gel. The viscous consistency of HPL-gel enabled passaging with a convenient harvesting and reseeding procedure by pipetting cells together with their HPL-matrix-this method does not require washing steps and can easily be automated. The immunophenotype and in vitro differentiation potential toward adipogenic, osteogenic, and chondrogenic lineage were not affected by culture-isolation on HPL-gel. Taken together, HPL-gel has many advantages over conventional plastic surfaces: it facilitates enhanced CFU-f outgrowth, increased proliferation rates, higher cell densities, and nonenzymatic passaging procedures for culture expansion of MSCs

Epigenetic Rejuvenation of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Derived from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

SummaryStandardization of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) remains a major obstacle in regenerative medicine. Starting material and culture expansion affect cell preparations and render comparison between studies difficult. In contrast, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) assimilate toward a ground state and may therefore give rise to more standardized cell preparations. We reprogrammed MSCs into iPSCs, which were subsequently redifferentiated toward MSCs. These iPS-MSCs revealed similar morphology, immunophenotype, in vitro differentiation potential, and gene expression profiles as primary MSCs. However, iPS-MSCs were impaired in suppressing T cell proliferation. DNA methylation (DNAm) profiles of iPSCs maintained donor-specific characteristics, whereas tissue-specific, senescence-associated, and age-related DNAm patterns were erased during reprogramming. iPS-MSCs reacquired senescence-associated DNAm during culture expansion, but they remained rejuvenated with regard to age-related DNAm. Overall, iPS-MSCs are similar to MSCs, but they reveal incomplete reacquisition of immunomodulatory function and MSC-specific DNAm patterns—particularly of DNAm patterns associated with tissue type and aging

Intraduktale papilläre muzinöse Neoplasie in einem Gallengang (B-IPMN)

Quality control of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be performed by several methods. These methods are usually relatively labor-intensive, difficult to standardize, or they do not facilitate reliable quantification. Here, we describe a biomarker to distinguish between pluripotent and non-pluripotent cells based on DNA methylation (DNAm) levels at only three specific CpG sites. Two of these CpG sites were selected by their discriminatory power in 258 DNAm profiles - they were either methylated in pluripotent or non-pluripotent cells. The difference between these two β-values provides an Epi-Pluri-Score that was validated on independent DNAm-datasets (264 pluripotent and 1,951 non-pluripotent samples) with 99.9% specificity and 98.9% sensitivity. This score was complemented by a third CpG within the gene POU5F1 (OCT4), which better demarcates early differentiation events. We established pyrosequencing assays for the three relevant CpG sites and thereby correctly classified DNA of 12 pluripotent cell lines and 31 non-pluripotent cell lines. Furthermore, DNAm changes at these three CpGs were tracked in the course of differentiation of iPSCs towards mesenchymal stromal cells. The Epi-Pluri-Score does not give information on lineage-specific differentiation potential, but it provides a simple, reliable, and robust biomarker to support high-throughput classification into either pluripotent or non-pluripotent cells

Matrix elasticity, replicative senescence and DNA methylation patterns of mesenchymal stem cells

Matrix elasticity guides differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) but it is unclear if these effects are only transient – while the cells reside on the substrate – or if they reflect persistent lineage commitment. In this study, MSCs were continuously culture-expanded in parallel either on tissue culture plastic (TCP) or on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) gels of different elasticity to compare impact on replicative senescence, in vitro differentiation, gene expression, and DNA methylation (DNAm) profiles. The maximal number of cumulative population doublings was not affected by matrix elasticity. Differentiation towards adipogenic and osteogenic lineage was increased on soft and rigid biomaterials, respectively – but this propensity was no more evident if cells were transferred to TCP. Global gene expression profiles and DNAm profiles revealed relatively few differences in MSCs cultured on soft or rigid matrices. Furthermore, only moderate DNAm changes were observed upon culture on very soft hydrogels of human platelet lysate. Our results support the notion that matrix elasticity influences cellular behavior while the cells reside on the substrate, but it does not have major impact on cell-intrinsic lineage determination, replicative senescence or DNAm patterns