透明质酸水凝胶包裹骨髓间充质干细胞改善心肌梗死大鼠的心功能(Ⅲ)

Hyaluronic acid hydrogel-encapsulated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells promote cardiac function in myocardial infarction rats(III)

背景:作者前期的研究结果显示透明质酸水凝胶包裹骨髓间充质干细胞显著改善大鼠心肌梗死后心功能。目的:探索透明质酸水凝胶及骨髓间充质干细胞促进心肌修复的分子机制。方法:分离培养雄性SD大鼠骨髓间充质干细胞,然后用透明质酸水凝胶包裹骨髓间充质干细胞在培养皿中进行体外三维培养。结扎雌性SD大鼠左冠状动脉前降支制作心肌梗死模型,1周后行超声检测,将符合条件的大鼠随机分为4组:①PBS组(n=12);②透明质酸组(n=12);③骨髓间充质干细胞组(n=15);④骨髓间充质干细胞+透明质酸组(n=15)。造模1周后将模型鼠行二次开胸,按照分组将PBS、透明质酸水凝胶、骨髓间充质干细胞、透明质酸水凝胶包裹骨髓间充质干细胞注射到梗死边缘区及梗死区。移植后1 d、1周、2周,Western blot检测梗死区域及周边的基质金属蛋白酶2、血管内皮生长因子、胸腺素β4以及c-Kit的蛋白表达水平,移植后2周免疫荧光检测移植细胞的分化情况。结果与结论:①在移植后1周时,骨髓间充质干细胞组的基质金属蛋白酶2及血管内皮生长因子蛋白表达水平明显高于其他3组(P<0.05);在移植后2周时,透明质酸组的基质金属蛋白酶2及血管内皮生长因子的表达水平明显低于其他3组(P<0.05),但骨髓间充质干细胞+透明质酸组的基质金属蛋白酶2及血管内皮生长因子表达水平与骨髓间充质干细胞组相比无差异,这可能反映了透明质酸水凝胶对骨髓间充质干细胞分泌的因子起到缓释作用以至于移植细胞的旁分泌效应得到延长,这种延长的旁分泌效应抵消了2周时透明质酸水凝胶引发的抑制效应;②与PBS组相比,透明质酸组、骨髓间充质干细胞组及骨髓间充质干细胞+透明质酸组的胸腺素β4及c-Kit表达水平明显升高(P<0.05);③移植后2周未检测到移植细胞向心肌细胞或血管分化;④提示:移植的骨髓间充质干细胞是通过旁分泌作用促进心肌修复,透明质酸水凝胶延长了移植骨髓间充质干细胞的旁分泌作用。

BACKGROUND:Our previous experimental results have shown that hyaluronic acid hydrogel can act as a vehicle for bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell delivery to improve the cardiac function of rats with myocardial infarction.OBJECTIVE:To explore the molecular mechanism of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and hyaluronic acid hydrogel in promoting damaged heart repair.METHODS:Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from male Sprague-Dawley rats were isolated and cultured,and then hyaluronic acid-encapsulated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were cultured in vitro in a three-dimensional manner.A model of myocardial infarction was made by ligating the left anterior descending artery of female Sprague-Dawley rats.After 1 week,the model rats were screened by ultrasonic testing and then eligible ones were randomly divided into four groups:PBS group(n=12),hyaluronic acid group(n=12),bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group(n=15),and hyaluronic acid-encapsulated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group(n=15).At 1 week after ligation,the model rats underwent the secondary thoracotomy followed by corresponding injections into the infarcted region and its marginal zone.The expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2,vascular endothelial growth factor,thymosinβ4 and c-Kit were examined at post-injection day 1,week 1 and week 2 by western blot assay.At post-injection week 2,immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the differentiation of transplanted cells.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor protein in the infarct zone in the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group were significantly up-regulated at week 1 compared with the other three groups(P<0.05).At week 2,the hyaluronic acid group had a lower expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor protein than the other three groups(P<0.05).However,the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor protein in the hyaluronic acid+bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group was not significantly different compared with the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group.This was primarily attributable to a prolonged paracrine effect via the controlled release of the hyaluronic acid hydrogel.This prolonged paracrine effect offsets the inhibitory effect induced by hyaluronic acid hydrogel at 2 weeks.(2)Compared with the PBS group,thymosinβ4 and c-Kit expression levels in the hyaluronic acid group,bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell+hyaluronic acid group were significantly increased(P<0.05).(3)No differentiation of transplanted cells into cardiomyocytes or blood vessels was detected 2 weeks after transplantation.(4)It is indicated that transplanted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells promote myocardial repair through the paracrine effect,and hyaluronic acid hydrogel prolongs the paracrine effect of transplanted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.