IL-1β + TGF-β2 dual-licensed mesenchymal stem cells have reduced major histocompatibility class I expression and positively modulate tenocyte migration, metabolism, and gene expression.

Abstract

The study objectives were to 1) determine the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) surface expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and transcriptome-wide gene expression changes following IL-1β + TGF-β2 dual licensing and 2) evaluate if IL-1β + TGF-β2 dual-licensed MSCs had a greater ability to positively modulate tenocyte function compared to naive MSCs. Equine bone marrow-derived MSCs from 6 donors and equine superficial digital flexor tenocytes from 3 donors. Experiments were performed in vitro. Flow cytometry and bulk RNA sequencing were utilized to determine naive and dual-licensed MSC phenotype and transcriptome-wide changes in gene expression. Conditioned media were generated from MSCs and utilized in tenocyte cell culture assays as a method to determine the effect of MSC paracrine factors on tenocyte function. Dual-licensed MSCs have a reduced expression of MHC class I and exhibit enrichment in functional pathways associated with the extracellular matrix, cell signaling, and tissue development. Additionally, dual-licensed MSC-conditioned media significantly improved in vitro tenocyte migration and metabolism to a greater degree than naive MSC-conditioned media. In tenocytes exposed to IL-1β, dual-licensed conditioned media also positively modulated tenocyte gene expression. Our data indicate that conditioned media containing paracrine factors secreted from dual-licensed MSCs significantly modulates in vitro tenocyte function, which may confer benefits in vivo to healing tendons following injury. Additionally, due to reduced MHC class I expression in dual-licensed MSCs, this technique may also provide an avenue to provide an effective "off-the-shelf" allogenic source of MSCs.