Alexandra Cristina Senegaglia

Cytomegalovirus-specific CD8(+) T cells targeting different HLA/peptide combinations correlate with protection but at different threshold frequencies.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) causes significant morbidity and mortality in patients after haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Due to limitations of current antiviral therapies, alternative approaches, involving transfer of donor‐derived CMV‐specific CD8+ T cells, have been considered. Levels of such cells correlating with protection against CMV infection and disease have only been reported in patients expressing HLA‐A*0201 and HLA‐B*0702. This is despite an increasing number of reports describing cells targeting CMV peptides presented by other human leucocyte antigens (HLAs). Considering several frequent HLA alleles, our findings suggest that HLA‐A*2402/pp65 (341‐349)‐ and HLA‐B*3501/pp65 (123‐131)‐specific CD8+ T cells correlate with protection from CMV reactivation at significantly lower cell levels than HLA‐A*0101/pp50 (245‐253)‐ and HLA‐A*0201/pp65 (495‐503)‐specific CD8+ T cells, both in HSCT recipients post‐transplant and in healthy CMV seropositive volunteers. This may result from a differing efficiency of the responses restricted by the two sets of HLA alleles. These findings add to the knowledge of immunodominance and differences in antigen processing that are coordinated in individuals with different HLA alleles and have direct implications for therapy and monitoring in patients.

Polysome Profiling Shows the Identity of Human Adipose-Derived Stromal/Stem Cells in Detail and Clearly Distinguishes Them from Dermal Fibroblasts

Although fibroblasts and multipotent stromal/stem cells, including adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs), have been extensively studied, they cannot be clearly distinguished from each other. We, therefore, investigated the cellular and molecular characteristics of ADSCs and fibroblasts. ADSCs and fibroblasts share several morphological similarities and surface markers, but were clearly found to be different types of cells. Contrary to previous reports, fibroblasts were not able to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts, or chondrocytes. Polysome-bound mRNA profiling revealed that ∼ 1,547 genes were differentially expressed (DE) in the two cell types; the genes were related to cell adhesion, the extracellular matrix, differentiation, and proliferation. These findings were confirmed by functional analyses showing that ADSCs had a greater adhesion capacity than fibroblasts; the proliferation rate of fibroblasts was also higher than that of ADSCs. Importantly, 185 DE genes were integral to the plasma membrane and, thus, candidate markers for ADSC isolation and manipulation. We also observed that an established marker of fibroblasts and ADSCs, CD105, was overexpressed in ADSCs at both mRNA and protein levels. CD105 expression seemed to be related to differentiation capacity, at least for adipogenesis. This study shows that ADSCs and fibroblasts are distinct cell types. These findings should be taken into account when using these two cell types in basic and therapeutic studies.

Autologous Transplantation of Bone Marrow Adult Stem Cells for the Treatment of Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Background Morbimortality in patients with dilated idiopathic cardiomyopathy is high, even under optimal medical treatment. Autologous infusion of bone marrow adult stem cells has shown promising preliminary results in these patients. Objective Determine the effectiveness of autologous transplantation of bone marrow adult stem cells on systolic and diastolic left ventricular function, and on the degree of mitral regurgitation in patients with dilated idiopathic cardiomyopathy in functional classes NYHA II and III. Methods We administered 4,54 x 108 ± 0,89 x 108 bone marrow adult stem cells into the coronary arteries of 24 patients with dilated idiopathic cardiomyopathy in functional classes NYHA II and III. Changes in functional class, systolic and diastolic left ventricular function and degree of mitral regurgitation were assessed after 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. Results During follow-up, six patients (25%) improved functional class and eight (33.3%) kept stable. Left ventricular ejection fraction improved 8.9%, 9.7% e 13.6%, after 3, 6 and 12 months (p = 0.024; 0.017 and 0.018), respectively. There were no significant changes neither in diastolic left ventricular function nor in mitral regurgitation degree. A combined cardiac resynchronization and implantable cardioversion defibrillation was implanted in two patients (8.3%). Four patients (16.6%) had sudden death and four patients died due to terminal cardiac failure. Average survival of these eight patients was 2.6 years. Conclusion Intracoronary infusion of bone marrow adult stem cells was associated with an improvement or stabilization of functional class and an improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction, suggesting the efficacy of this intervention. There were no significant changes neither in left ventricular diastolic function nor in the degree of mitral regurgitation.

Tissue-Derived Signals for Mesenchymal Stem Cell Stimulation: Role of Cardiac and Umbilical Cord Microenvironments

The tissue microenvironment regulates such stem cell behaviors as self-renewal and differentiation. Attempts to mimic components of these microenvironments could provide new strategies for culturing and directing the behavior of stem cells. The aim of the present study was to mimic cardiac and umbilical cord tissue microenvironments in vitro and compare the resulting bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (BM-MSC) behaviors. We generated tissue microenvironments using conditioned medium (CM) and extracellular matrix (ECM) samples obtained from human heart and umbilical cord tissue explant cultures and by tissue decellularization. Mass spectrometry and immunostaining were used to characterize and determine the specific protein profiles of the ECMs and CMs. We demonstrated that the ECMs and CMs were not cytotoxic to BM-MSCs and could thus be tested via cell culture. The BM-MSCs showed a higher proliferation rate when cultured with umbilical cord-derived CM compared with the other analyzed conditions. Furthermore, the ECMs increased cell adhesion and migration. However, although the conditions tested in this work were able to maintain the viability and affect the proliferation, adhesion and migration of BM-MSCs in vitro, mimicking tissue microenvironments using ECM and CM was not sufficient to induce the cardiomyogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs. The present study provides a thorough characterization of the biological activity of these ECMs and CMs in human BM-MSC cultures.

Additional file 1: of Expanded endothelial progenitor cells mitigate lung injury in septic mice

Survival rate in untreated CLP animals and those treated with cells. Survival rate at days 1 and 3 are related to day 0; values in parentheses are survival rate related to day 1. (DOCX 12 kb)