Characterization of In Vitro Expanded Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Isolated from Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Mice

Extensive experimental studies indicate that autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are able to ameliorate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and potentially multiple sclerosis. However, the impact that the inflammatory environment present in EAE may have on the biological properties of BMSCs expanded in vitro for transplantation is yet to be clarified. It was investigated whether BMSCs isolated from EAE-induced C57bl6/J mice and expanded in vitro preserve the properties of BMSCs isolated from healthy donors (BMSCs-control). The mesenchymal origin, the differentiation potential, and the transcriptional expression profile of six histone-modifying genes were studied in both groups of BMSCs. BMSCs-EAE exhibited distinct morphology and larger size compared to BMSCs-control, higher degree of proliferation and apoptosis, differences in the adipogenesis and the osteogenesis induction, and differential expression of stromal markers and markers of progenitor and mature neuronal/glial cells. Moreover, BMSCs-EAE exhibited different expression patterns on a number of histone-modifying genes compared to controls. We recorded manifold differences, both phenotypical and functional, of in vitro expanded BMSCs-EAE in comparison to their healthy donor-derived counterparts that may be attributed to the inflammatory environment they originated from. Whether our findings may be of any clinical relevance needs to be clarified in future studies, in vivo.