Abstract
BackgroundVascular injury is one of the most common detrimental effects of cancer radiotherapy on healthy tissues. Since the efficacy of current preventive and therapeutic strategies remains limited, the exploration of new approaches to treat radiation-induced vascular injury (RIV) is on high demands. The use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to treat RIV holds great promise thanks to their well-documented function of mediating tissue regeneration after injury. Recently, we genetically modified MSCs with high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) and demonstrated the high efficacy of these cells in treating graft atherosclerosis. The current study was to investigate the protective effect of HMGB1-modified MSCs (MSC-H) on RIV by using a rat model.MethodsFemale F344 rats received an intravenous injection of male F344 MSC-H cells or vehicle control at four doses of 2 × 106 cells with a 15-day interval starting from 30 days after irradiation to the abdominal aorta. The aortas were procured for histological and biomedical analysis at 90 days after irradiation. Cell migration to irradiated aortas was traced by green fluorescent protein and sex determination region on the Y chromosome. In vitro cell migration and endothelial differentiation of MSC-H cells were analyzed by stromal-derived factor 1-induced transwell assay and RNA microarray, respectively. The contribution of extracellular HMGB1 to the bioactivity of MSC-H cells was investigated by inhibition experiments with HMGB1 antibody.ResultMSC-H cell infusion alleviated neointimal formation, vascular inflammation, and fibrosis in irradiated aortas, which was associated with local migration and endothelial differentiation of MSC-H cells. The MSC-H cells showed high motility and potential of endothelial differentiation in vitro. Microarray analysis suggested multiple pathways like MAPK and p53 signaling were activated during endothelial differentiation. MSC-H cells highly expressed CXC chemokine receptor 4 and migrated progressively after stromal-derived factor 1 stimulation, which was blocked by the antagonist of CXC chemokine receptor 4. Finally, the migration and endothelial differentiation of MSC-H cells were inhibited by HMGB1 antibody.ConclusionMSC-H cell infusion significantly attenuated RIV, which was associated with their high motility and endothelial differentiation potential. Multiple pathways that possibly contributed to the efficacy of MSC-H cells were suggested and deserved further investigation.
Highlights
Vascular injury is one of the most common detrimental effects of cancer radiotherapy on healthy tissues
mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-H cell infusion significantly attenuated radiation-induced vascular injury (RIV), which was associated with their high motility and endothelial differentiation potential
MSC-H cell infusion alleviated neointimal formation, vascular inflammation, and fibrosis in irradiated aortas Ninety days after aorta irradiation, the segment of affected aortas was procured for histological analysis
Summary
Vascular injury is one of the most common detrimental effects of cancer radiotherapy on healthy tissues. Since the efficacy of current preventive and therapeutic strategies remains limited, the exploration of new approaches to treat radiation-induced vascular injury (RIV) is on high demands. The use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to treat RIV holds great promise thanks to their well-documented function of mediating tissue regeneration after injury. Radiotherapy can lead to serious sometimes irreversible injury of normal tissues and organs in the irradiation field, and such injury in some cases is as challenging to treat as the neoplasms themselves [3, 4]. The aortas have a large luminal diameter and rarely develop symptomatic stenosis as carotid and femoral arteries following irradiation, the potentially life-threatening complication of aortic rupture remains a significant clinical concern [5]
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