RESUMO
Cerebral pericytes are perivascular cells that stabilize blood vessels. Little is known about the plasticity of pericytes in the adult brain in vivo. Recently, using state-of-the-art technologies, including two-photon microscopy in combination with sophisticated Cre/loxP in vivo tracing techniques, a novel role of pericytes was revealed in vascular remodeling in the adult brain. Strikingly, after pericyte ablation, neighboring pericytes expand their processes and prevent vascular dilatation. This new knowledge provides insights into pericyte plasticity in the adult brain.
Assuntos
Encéfalo/irrigação sanguínea , Encéfalo/fisiologia , Pericitos/fisiologia , Remodelação Vascular , Animais , Encéfalo/fisiopatologia , Encefalopatias/fisiopatologia , Capilares/fisiologia , Microambiente Celular , Retinopatia Diabética/fisiopatologia , Células Endoteliais/fisiologia , HumanosRESUMO
Traumatic spinal cord injury is a devastating condition that leads to significant neurological deficits and reduced quality of life. Therapeutic interventions after spinal cord lesions are designed to address multiple aspects of the secondary damage. However, the lack of detailed knowledge about the cellular and molecular changes that occur after spinal cord injury restricts the design of effective treatments. Li and colleagues using a rat model of spinal cord injury and in vivo microscopy reveal that pericytes play a key role in the regulation of capillary tone and blood flow in the spinal cord below the site of the lesion. Strikingly, inhibition of specific proteins expressed by pericytes after spinal cord injury diminished hypoxia and improved motor function and locomotion of the injured rats. This work highlights a novel central cellular population that might be pharmacologically targeted in patients with spinal cord trauma. The emerging knowledge from this research may provide new approaches for the treatment of spinal cord injury.
Assuntos
Acoplamento Neurovascular/fisiologia , Pericitos/patologia , Pericitos/fisiologia , Traumatismos da Medula Espinal/patologia , Traumatismos da Medula Espinal/terapia , Animais , HumanosRESUMO
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is still an untreatable lethal X-linked disorder, which affects 1 in 3500 male births. It is caused by the absence of muscle dystrophin due to mutations in the dystrophin gene. The potential regenerative capacity as well as immune privileged properties of mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) has been under investigation for many years in an attempt to treat DMD. One of the questions to be addressed is whether stem cells from distinct sources have comparable clinical effects when injected in murine or canine muscular dystrophy animal models. Many studies comparing different stem cells from various sources were reported but these cells were obtained from different donors and thus with different genetic backgrounds. Here we investigated whether human pericytes obtained from 4 different tissues (muscle, adipose tissue, fallopian tube and endometrium) from the same donor have a similar clinical impact when injected in double mutant Utrn (tm1Ked) Dmd (mdx) /J mice, a clinically relevant model for DMD. After a weekly regimen of intraperitoneal injections of 10(6) cells per 8 weeks we evaluated the motor ability as well as the life span of the treated mice as compared to controls. Our experiment showed that only adipose tissue derived pericytes are able to increase significantly (39 days on average) the life span of affected mice. Microarray analysis showed an inhibition of the interferon pathway by adipose derived pericytes. Our results suggest that the clinical benefit associated with intraperitoneal injections of these adult stem cells is related to immune modulation rather than tissue regeneration.
Assuntos
Tecido Adiposo/fisiologia , Pericitos/fisiologia , Tecido Adiposo/metabolismo , Animais , Diferenciação Celular/fisiologia , Células Cultivadas , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Distrofina/metabolismo , Feminino , Humanos , Células-Tronco Mesenquimais/metabolismo , Células-Tronco Mesenquimais/fisiologia , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos mdx , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Músculo Esquelético/metabolismo , Músculo Esquelético/fisiologia , Distrofia Muscular de Duchenne/metabolismo , Distrofia Muscular de Duchenne/terapia , Pericitos/metabolismoRESUMO
Angiogenesis has been recognised as a precursor of fibrosis in several pathologic conditions. Its participation has been demonstrated in schistosomiasis, both during periovular granuloma formation and in the genesis of schistosomal periportal fibrosis. Paradoxically, proliferation of new blood vessels, accompanied by production of vascular-endothelial growth factor, appeared prominent during fibrosis regression months after curative treatment of schistosomiasis. Thus, angiogenesis in schistosomiasis seems to have a two-way mode of action, participating both in fibrogenesis and in fibrosis degradation. Morphological observations presented here are in keeping with the possibility that, in the first case, angiogenesis allows pericytes to come in great numbers to the site of lesions and be detached from capillary walls and transformed into myofibroblasts, which are important extra-cellular matrix forming cells. During post-curative fibrosis regression, actin-containing pericytes appeared at various foci of tissue remodelling, especially at sites of repair of vascular lesions. The molecular and cell factors involved in both situations seem to be important subjects in need of further investigations and the schistosomiasis model certainly will be of great avail in this regard.
Assuntos
Granuloma/parasitologia , Cirrose Hepática/parasitologia , Neovascularização Patológica/parasitologia , Esquistossomose mansoni/fisiopatologia , Animais , Granuloma/patologia , Granuloma/fisiopatologia , Humanos , Cirrose Hepática/patologia , Cirrose Hepática/fisiopatologia , Camundongos , Neovascularização Patológica/patologia , Neovascularização Patológica/fisiopatologia , Pericitos/fisiologia , Esquistossomose mansoni/patologiaRESUMO
Angiogenesis has been recognised as a precursor of fibrosis in several pathologic conditions. Its participation has been demonstrated in schistosomiasis, both during periovular granuloma formation and in the genesis of schistosomal periportal fibrosis. Paradoxically, proliferation of new blood vessels, accompanied by production of vascular-endothelial growth factor, appeared prominent during fibrosis regression months after curative treatment of schistosomiasis. Thus, angiogenesis in schistosomiasis seems to have a two-way mode of action, participating both in fibrogenesis and in fibrosis degradation. Morphological observations presented here are in keeping with the possibility that, in the first case, angiogenesis allows pericytes to come in great numbers to the site of lesions and be detached from capillary walls and transformed into myofibroblasts, which are important extra-cellular matrix forming cells. During post-curative fibrosis regression, actin-containing pericytes appeared at various foci of tissue remodelling, especially at sites of repair of vascular lesions. The molecular and cell factors involved in both situations seem to be important subjects in need of further investigations and the schistosomiasis model certainly will be of great avail in this regard.
Assuntos
Animais , Humanos , Camundongos , Granuloma , Cirrose Hepática , Neovascularização Patológica , Esquistossomose mansoni , Granuloma/patologia , Granuloma , Cirrose Hepática/patologia , Cirrose Hepática , Neovascularização Patológica/patologia , Neovascularização Patológica , Pericitos/fisiologia , Esquistossomose mansoni/patologiaRESUMO
In spite of the advances in the knowledge of adult stem cells (ASCs) during the past few years, their natural activities in vivo are still poorly understood. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), one of the most promising types of ASCs for cell-based therapies, are defined mainly by functional assays using cultured cells. Defining MSCs in vitro adds complexity to their study because the artificial conditions may introduce experimental artifacts. Inserting these results in the context of the organism is difficult because the exact location and functions of MSCs in vivo remain elusive; the identification of the MSC niche is necessary to validate results obtained in vitro and to further the knowledge of the physiological functions of this ASC. Here we show an analysis of the evidence suggesting a perivascular location for MSCs, correlating these cells with pericytes, and present a model in which the perivascular zone is the MSC niche in vivo, where local cues coordinate the transition to progenitor and mature cell phenotypes. This model proposes that MSCs stabilize blood vessels and contribute to tissue and immune system homeostasis under physiological conditions and assume a more active role in the repair of focal tissue injury. The establishment of the perivascular compartment as the MSC niche provides a basis for the rational design of additional in vivo therapeutic approaches. This view connects the MSC to the immune and vascular systems, emphasizing its role as a physiological integrator and its importance in tissue repair/regeneration.
Assuntos
Vasos Sanguíneos/citologia , Células-Tronco Mesenquimais/citologia , Modelos Biológicos , Pericitos/citologia , Animais , Diferenciação Celular , Células Endoteliais/citologia , Células Endoteliais/fisiologia , Homeostase , Humanos , Sistema Imunitário/fisiologia , Tolerância Imunológica , Células-Tronco Mesenquimais/imunologia , Células-Tronco Mesenquimais/fisiologia , Pericitos/imunologia , Pericitos/fisiologiaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The relationship of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) with pericytes and fibroblasts has not been established thus far, although they share many markers of primitive marrow stromal cells and the osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic differentiation potentials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared MSCs from adult or fetal tissues, MSC differentiated in vitro, fibroblasts and cultures of retinal pericytes obtained either by separation with anti-CD146 or adhesion. The characterizations included morphological, immunophenotypic, gene-expression profile, and differentiation potential. RESULTS: Osteogenic, adipocytic, and chondrocytic differentiation was demonstrated for MSC, retinal perivascular cells, and fibroblasts. Cell morphology and the phenotypes defined by 22 markers were very similar. Analysis of the global gene expression obtained by serial analysis of gene expression for 17 libraries and by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction of 39 selected genes from 31 different cell cultures, revealed similarities among MSC, retinal perivascular cells, and hepatic stellate cells. Despite this overall similarity, there was a heterogeneous expression of genes related to angiogenesis, in MSC derived from veins, artery, perivascular cells, and fibroblasts. Evaluation of typical pericyte and MSC transcripts, such as NG2, CD146, CD271, and CD140B on CD146 selected perivascular cells and MSC by real-time polymerase chain reaction confirm the relationship between these two cell types. Furthermore, the inverse correlation between fibroblast-specific protein-1 and CD146 transcripts observed on pericytes, MSC, and fibroblasts highlight their potential use as markers of this differentiation pathway. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that human MSC and pericytes are similar cells located in the wall of the vasculature, where they function as cell sources for repair and tissue maintenance, whereas fibroblasts are more differentiated cells with more restricted differentiation potential.