Decellularized Extracellular Matrix Retards Premature Senescence of Human Endometrial Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

Abstract

The extracellular matrix (ECM), the main component of the extracellular space, mediates signaling between cells and controls the key cell functions—proliferation, differentiation, and migration. The relevance of studying ECM is due to a wide range of its biological properties that can be applied in regenerative medicine and bioengineering. Cell-derived decellularized ECM (dECM) is used to study ECM as a regulator of the cell functional activity, as well as to mimic their tissue-specific microenvironment. Here, we hypothesized that dECM deposited by Wharton’s jelly-derived MSCs modulates the senescence phenotype of endometrial MSCs (eMSCs) acquired in response to oxidative stress. This aspect of ECM functioning in the context of eMSCs has so far remained unexplored. A comparative study of prolonged H2O2-induced senescence of eMSCs exposed to both dECM and cultured plastic showed that dECM may effectively downregulate the main senescence markers. Our findings suggest that ECM is able to partially reverse (retard) the eMSCs premature senescence.