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Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:35:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-10-08Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:45:08Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 limaneto_jf_dr_botfmvz.pdf: 5509939 bytes, checksum: 6d585da226479576f95a5b051bde27a2 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A célula-tronco (CT) é definida como uma célula com capacidade de gerar diferentes tipos celulares e reconstituir diversos tecidos. Além disso, a CT apresenta propriedades de auto-renovação, gerando cópias idênticas a si mesma. De acordo com sua origem, as células-tronco podem ser chamadas de adultas e embrionárias. As células-tronco adultas (CTA) mais utilizadas nas clínicas de terapia celular são as células-tronco hematopoiéticas e as células tronco mesenquimais, encontradas principalmente na medula óssea, tecido adiposo e no sangue do cordão umbilical. As células-tronco embrionárias (CTE) são derivadas da massa celular interna de embriões no estágio de blastocisto. Desta maneira este trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver uma metodologia adequada para o isolamento, cultivo e caracterização de células tronco embrionárias e mesenquimais de eqüinos, além de verificar a capacidade que as células possuem em se diferenciar in vitro em outros tipos célulares. Foi coletado sangue da medula óssea de eqüinos entre 8 e 15 anos de idade. As células tronco mesenquimais foram isoladas após a primeira e segunda passagem. As células foram caracterizadas com marcadores de superfície CD34 (mononucleares) e CD44 (mesenquimais). Após isolamento e caracterização, as células tronco mesenquimais foram diferenciadas para as linhagens osteogênica, adipogênica, condrogênica e neurogênica. A confirmação da diferenciação das células tronco foi realizada por marcadores teciduais específicos. Estas células também, foram capazes de expressarem marcadores neurais. Para o isolamento das células tronco embrionária eqüina, embriões com oito a nove dias foram coletado e a massa celular interna (MCI) isolada mecanicamente. Após o isolamento, a MCI foi transferida para a placa de cultivo previamente preparada com monocamada de fibroblastos para o desenvolvimento... / The stem cell (SC) is defined as cells with the capacity of generate different cellular types and rebuild various tissues. Moreover, the SC has a selfregenerate ability, generating identical copies of itself. According to its origins, the SC can be named as “adult” or “embryonic”. The adult stem cell (ASC) more often used in clinical trials and cellular therapy, are the hematopoietic stem cells and the mesenchymal stem cells, isolated mainly from the marrow bone, adipose tissue and umbilical cord blood. The embryonic stem cells (ESC) are obtained from the inner cell mass of embryos at the blastocyst stage. In this way the present study had as objective to develop an adequate methodology of isolation, culture and characterization of embryonic and mesechymal stem cells from horses, verifying the capacity of those cells to differentiate in vitro into different cells types. Bone marrow blood was collected from horses, aging from 8 to 15 years and filtered with a donation blood kit filter, to avoid clots. The mesenchymal stem cells were isolated after the first and the second passage. The SC were characterized using surface markers CD34 (monuclear) and CD44 (mesenchymal). After the isolation and characterization, the mesenchymal stem cells were differenced into osteogenic, adipogenic, condrogenic and neurogenic lineage. The cells differentiations were confirmed using specific tissue markers. To isolate the embryonic stem cells equine embryos with 8 to 9 days were used. The inner cell mass (ICM) were extract mechanically and transferred to a culture dish previously prepared with fibroblasts monolayer to colony formation and development. The colonies were characterized with pluripotency markers and then submitted to a differentiation process into neurogenic lineage, confirmed by specific neural tissue markers

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by an autoimmune attack against the insulin producing Beta-cells of the pancreas. Also known as insulin-dependent diabetes, patients must receive exogenous injections of insulin in order to maintain glycemic homeostasis. The necessity of monitoring one’s own blood glucose levels and self-administering insulin is a tedious routine for type 1 diabetics, and this standard treatment option fails to treat any of the underlying causes of the disease. According to van Belle et al, the prevalence of diabetes is rising worldwide amongst all age-groups, from 2.8% in 2000 to an estimated 4.4% by 2030, thus the need to find a more curative treatment approach is eminent. In the emerging field of regenerative medicine, mesenchymal stem cells have been identified as a possible therapeutic tool to replace damaged parenchymal tissue. Along with their ability to modulate the local microenvironment, the introduction of properly differentiated mesenchymal stem cells into patients with Type 1 diabetes may provide a treatment option that helps supplement the lost islet cells without provoking an immune response. Preliminary clinical trials have shown that stem cell therapy decreases the amount of exogenous insulin required daily, decreases fasting glucose levels, decreases amount of glycated hemoglobin and increases C-peptide levels. These four indicators of diabetic control suggest that mesenchymal stem cells are an effective means of helping manage Type 1 diabetes. Still, much research needs to be done to fully understand the biomechanics behind the cells’ actions in order to expand human clinical trials. Although complete insulin independence is rarely achieved in patients receiving mesenchymal stem cell treatment, the promising results shown so far suggest more studies be undertaken in hopes of finding a corrective approach to treat Type 1 diabetes.

<strong>Osteoarthritis</strong>, the most prevalent joint disease in the United Kingdom, is a progressive condition that results in end-stage full-thickness cartilage loss and has important social and economic impacts on society. Since cartilage lacks regenerative capabilities, it is essential to develop approaches to initiate and enhance cartilage regeneration. In this context, tissue engineering is emerging as an attractive approach for the regeneration of cartilage tissue damaged due to disease or trauma. A scaffold-free cartilage construct, analogous to those found during embryonic precartilage condensation, has received much attention as an alternative novel modality for cartilage <strong>tissue engineering</strong>. Cartilage repair with <strong>scaffold-free</strong> tissue more closely resembles the natural situation and mimics the features of the original tissue. Moreover, scaffold-free cartilage implants can overcome the complications caused by the use of suboptimal scaffolds by avoiding the need for a foreign scaffold at all. Culturing cells into tissue patches without the requirement for a scaffold can be achieved through <strong>cell sheet engineering</strong>, which uses thermo-responsive culture dishes. However, the high costs of the tissue culture consumables, and the relatively low cellular yield, makes this process less attractive. This thesis presents a novel method for generating shape-, size- and thickness-adjustable 3-dimensional scaffold-free cell pellet sheets for use as implantable biological cell patches for cartilage tissue engineering. This new technique of bioengineering scaffold-free cell pellet sheets proves to be reproducible, easily applicable, sizable and thickness adjustable. <strong>Stem cells</strong> have added a new thrust to tissue engineering. Their distinctive self-renewal and plasticity have not only optimized many tissue engineering developments, but also rendered feasible some applications which would otherwise be unattainable with somatic cells. Human mesenchymal stem cells (HMSCs) were used to examine the optimal condition for generating cell pellet sheets with this new method. Furthermore, the resultant differentiated pellet sheets were compared directly with HMSCs, human chondrocytes and human fibroblasts alone to evaluate the feasibility of using this cell pellet sheet for clinical applications in terms of their biological and mechanical properties. The results of this thesis suggest that the engineered scaffold-free, chondrogenic, differentiated MSC pellet sheet not only exhibits desirable biologic features similar to chondrocytes, but also demonstrates good integrative and viscoelastic potential that might offer exciting possibilities for the development of novel biologically-based clinical therapies. In summary the data presented herein indicate the following points: <table><ul style="list-style-type:square"><li>The differentiation of human MSCs into chondrogenic cells was achieved.</li> <li>A novel approach of centrifugal seeding on a PDMS surface was shown to effectively generate chondrogenic-differentiated cell pellet sheets without impairing the biological functions of chondrocytes.</li> <li>Various cell types such as human MSCs, human chondrocytes and human fibroblasts were found to respond well to the novel methodology and generated viable, cohesive, less shrinkable, and readily-detachable cell pellet sheets, the size and thickness of which could be adapted as required. The results obtained were superior to those obtained using the conventional thermo-responsive culture dish method.</li></table> This new methodology developed in this thesis provides an approach to in vitro cell pellet sheet generation which is closer to the physiological process of cartilage development and which proved valuable for the study of in vitro generation of scaffold-free cell patches as an important adjunct to many traditional cartilage restorative procedures. Future research on in vivo assessment of the cell sheet and the functional role of these sheets in repairing damaged cartilage is recommended.

Despite the normally robust regenerative capacity of muscle tissue, extensive soft tissue damage often results in a functional loss that cannot be restored using classic reconstruction techniques. Although implanted biomaterials are capable of mechanically transmitting force generated from the remaining tissue, cellular repopulation, reinnervation and revascularization of the injured area is necessary to achieve complete functional restoration. Using an in vivo tissue engineering model, a 1.0 x 1.0 cm portion of the lateral gastrocnemius (LGAS) of Lewis rats was removed and replaced with a muscle-derived extracellular matrix (ECM). Constructs were seeded with bone marrow-derived (BMSCs) or adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and the peroneal nerve was relocated over the implanted ECM. Creation of the defect resulted in a functional impairment of the LGAS, only capable of producing 85.1 ± 4.1% of the force generated in the contralateral LGAS following ECM implantation. A significant increase in specific tension (SPo) was seen in all groups following the nerve relocation procedure when compared to their corresponding cellular treatment without nerve relocation (p < 0.05). Histological quantification revealed significant increases in cellular content and blood vessel density in the top and bottom regions of ECM implants seeded with BMSCs (p < 0.05). The nerve relocation procedure significantly increased these same variables within the middle region of the ECM when compared to all groups lacking this treatment (p < 0.05). The presence of regenerating myofibers was immunofluorescently confirmed using antibodies against desmin, myosin heavy chain and laminin, while their developmental state was substantiated by the presence of central nuclei. These data corroborate a therapeutic effect of BMSCs on skeletal muscle regeneration within the ECM implant that was not seen following ADSC injection. Furthermore, the nerve relocation procedure stimulated an increased cellular and vascular growth within the middle region of the construct, likely the cause of improved functional output. / text

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Orientador: Fernanda da Cruz Landim e Alvarenga / Banca: Sony Dimas Bicudo / Banca: Nereu Carlos Prestes / Banca: José Antonio Visintin / Banca: Claudia Barbosa Fernandes / Resumo: A célula-tronco (CT) é definida como uma célula com capacidade de gerar diferentes tipos celulares e reconstituir diversos tecidos. Além disso, a CT apresenta propriedades de auto-renovação, gerando cópias idênticas a si mesma. De acordo com sua origem, as células-tronco podem ser chamadas de "adultas" e "embrionárias". As células-tronco adultas (CTA) mais utilizadas nas clínicas de terapia celular são as células-tronco hematopoiéticas e as células tronco mesenquimais, encontradas principalmente na medula óssea, tecido adiposo e no sangue do cordão umbilical. As células-tronco embrionárias (CTE) são derivadas da massa celular interna de embriões no estágio de blastocisto. Desta maneira este trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver uma metodologia adequada para o isolamento, cultivo e caracterização de células tronco embrionárias e mesenquimais de eqüinos, além de verificar a capacidade que as células possuem em se diferenciar in vitro em outros tipos célulares. Foi coletado sangue da medula óssea de eqüinos entre 8 e 15 anos de idade. As células tronco mesenquimais foram isoladas após a primeira e segunda passagem. As células foram caracterizadas com marcadores de superfície CD34 (mononucleares) e CD44 (mesenquimais). Após isolamento e caracterização, as células tronco mesenquimais foram diferenciadas para as linhagens osteogênica, adipogênica, condrogênica e neurogênica. A confirmação da diferenciação das células tronco foi realizada por marcadores teciduais específicos. Estas células também, foram capazes de expressarem marcadores neurais. Para o isolamento das células tronco embrionária eqüina, embriões com oito a nove dias foram coletado e a massa celular interna (MCI) isolada mecanicamente. Após o isolamento, a MCI foi transferida para a placa de cultivo previamente preparada com monocamada de fibroblastos para o desenvolvimento... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The stem cell (SC) is defined as cells with the capacity of generate different cellular types and rebuild various tissues. Moreover, the SC has a selfregenerate ability, generating identical copies of itself. According to its origins, the SC can be named as "adult" or "embryonic". The adult stem cell (ASC) more often used in clinical trials and cellular therapy, are the hematopoietic stem cells and the mesenchymal stem cells, isolated mainly from the marrow bone, adipose tissue and umbilical cord blood. The embryonic stem cells (ESC) are obtained from the inner cell mass of embryos at the blastocyst stage. In this way the present study had as objective to develop an adequate methodology of isolation, culture and characterization of embryonic and mesechymal stem cells from horses, verifying the capacity of those cells to differentiate in vitro into different cells types. Bone marrow blood was collected from horses, aging from 8 to 15 years and filtered with a donation blood kit filter, to avoid clots. The mesenchymal stem cells were isolated after the first and the second passage. The SC were characterized using surface markers CD34 (monuclear) and CD44 (mesenchymal). After the isolation and characterization, the mesenchymal stem cells were differenced into osteogenic, adipogenic, condrogenic and neurogenic lineage. The cells differentiations were confirmed using specific tissue markers. To isolate the embryonic stem cells equine embryos with 8 to 9 days were used. The inner cell mass (ICM) were extract mechanically and transferred to a culture dish previously prepared with fibroblasts monolayer to colony formation and development. The colonies were characterized with pluripotency markers and then submitted to a differentiation process into neurogenic lineage, confirmed by specific neural tissue markers / Doutor

Hypoxia (low tissue oxygenation) is an important signalling cue for many cell types. The study of its effects has direct relevance to surgery since hypoxic gradients are generated with every cut. On a cellular level, changes in molecular oxygen are sensed by the Hypoxia-Inducible Factors (HIFs). The HIFs are a family of transcription factors that are master regulators of over 100 genes and can effect changes in multiple cellular processes including migration, survival and differentiation. The broad nature of the response to hypoxia means that study of the HIF system is also important in cancer; where many tumour cells have found ways of subverting the HIF response to ensure their continued growth and survival. This thesis explores the role of hypoxia and the HIF system in the regulation of migration, survival and differentiation in both cancer and stem cells. The first experimental chapter examines the role of hypoxia and the HIF system in the regulation of migration and three-dimensional organisation in several cancer cell lines. Using biochemical and functional assays, the HIF system is shown to exert a pleiotropic effect across a panel of cancer cell lines. In particular, HIF 1α is shown to activate proliferation in a prostate cancer cell line in findings that may be useful to inform future clinical strategies for the management of this disease. In the second experimental chapter, the first epigenetic mechanism involving histone modification for the specific regulation of HIF 2α expression is characterised. Here the family with sequence similarity 60, member A (Fam60a) protein is shown to repress expression of the HIF 2α gene through its association with the class 1 Sin3-HDAC co-repressor complex, achieving specificity by co-operation with the SP1 transcription factor. This novel mechanism is demonstrated to be important in the regulation of the basal expression of HIF 2α. Modification of HIF 2α expression through this mechanism is shown to alter cell migration, three dimensional organisation and angiogenesis in vitro. The clinical importance of these findings is demonstrated in a series of 45 patients suffering from colorectal cancer of known stage. In this cohort, the reciprocal relationship between Fam60a and HIF 2α is maintained, and both are identified as potential novel biomarkers for the development of this disease. In the final experimental chapter, the role of hypoxia in the regulation of differentiation is explored. These effects are documented in mesenchymal progenitors primarily derived from human fat. Here, hypoxia is shown to regulate differentiation in a context-dependent manner, promoting osteogenic and retarding adipose and neural differentiation in-vitro. The roles of Fam60a and HIF 2α are explored in this system. These data may be useful in optimising future surgical engraftment of these cells for regenerative purposes.

Background: Exosomes have great potential in regenerative medicine through the transfer of their bioactive cargos, such as RNA. tRF RNA and tiRNA are tRNAderived non-coding RNA. Here, we sought to identify the tRF/tiRNA profile in human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) exosomes. Methods: Bone marrow hMSCs were cultured with/without osteogenic differentiation medium and exosomes were harvested. RNA was extracted from: 1) control cells (Cell-NT); 2) control exosomes (EXO-NT); 3) differentiated cells (Cell-OM); 4) exosomes produced by differentiated cells (EXO-OM). RNA was sequenced to profile the small RNA with a focus on tRF/tiRNA. Results: tRF/tiRNA was highly enriched in hMSC exosomes. Less diversity was seen in the tRF/tiRNA profile in exosomes than that in parent cells. Selective tRF/tiRNA were packed into MSC exosomes and their profile is dependent on the cell maturation status. Conclusions: Our results suggest that tRF/tiRNA may play a role in mediating the function of exosomes in tissue regeneration.

Ischaemic stroke occurs as a result of a blockage in one of the brain’s arteries, leading to neuronal injury and death. Although stroke is a major cause of death and disability, there is no widely available treatment. Inflammation occurs in the brain and in the periphery following stroke, and both contribute to the ischaemic damage. Leukocytes such as neutrophils are key mediators of brain damage and inflammation, particularly in the presence of systemic inflammatory challenges such as interleukin-1 (IL-1). Tumor necrosis factor-stimulated gene 6 (TSG-6) is a potent inhibitor of neutrophil migration, and also modulates the immune response by dampening expression of cytokines and stabilising the extra-cellular matrix (ECM). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown immunomodulatory actions in many inflammatory conditions, and their benefit has often been attributed to the production of TSG-6. This work aimed to evaluate the potential of TSG-6 and TSG-6-expressing MSCs as therapies in cerebral ischaemia, and to investigate the expression profile of endogenous TSG-6 in response to stroke. Mice were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) followed by reperfusion. We investigated whether IL-1-induced acute brain injury after stroke is reversed by TSG-6, and long-term recovery was evaluated in mice treated with TSG-6 or MSCs. Functional outcomes were assessed, and brains were sectioned and stained for analysis of lesion volume, haemorrhagic transformation, blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption and neutrophil infiltration. The expression profile of TSG-6 was evaluated in mice allowed to recover for 4h, 24h, 3, 5 or 7 days. TSG-6 expression was determined by quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry. Treatment with TSG-6 reduced IL-1-induced neutrophil infiltration into the striatum, and led to decreased BBB disruption and haemorrhagic transformation at 24h. Treatment with TSG-6 in the absence of a systemic inflammatory challenge had no significant effect on lesion volume, BBB disruption or haemorrhagic transformation after 7 days reperfusion, however thalamic neutrophil infiltration was significantly reduced. Treatment with human MSCs had no significant effect on behavioural or histological outcomes, however a heightened inflammatory response in MSC-treated mice suggested rejection of the cells by the murine immune system. TSG-6 expression peaked in the ischaemic hemisphere at 5 days post-reperfusion, and was associated with astrocytes in the glial scar surrounding the infarcted tissue. TSG-6 might be a promising therapy for the treatment of stroke in the presence of systemic inflammation. TSG-6-expressing MSCs might provide a broader therapeutic potential, and further work should optimise experimental conditions to prevent rejection of the cells. Expression of TSG-6 within the glial scar suggests a potential role in repair and recovery following ischaemic stroke. Modulating the peripheral immune response remains an attractive and accessible therapeutic target for the treatment of cerebral ischaemia.