AI Article Synopsis

  • Stem cell therapy using bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) shows promise for regenerating intervertebral discs, but how it works is not fully understood.
  • This study found that BMSCs transfer mitochondria to nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) through a structure called intercellular tunneling nanotube (TNT), helping NPCs recover from dysfunction and apoptosis.
  • The protein Miro1 plays an essential role in this mitochondrial transfer, and its depletion in BMSCs hinders the recovery process in NPCs, indicating important intercellular interactions for disc regeneration.

Article Abstract

Stem cell-based therapy has been indicated to be beneficial for intervertebral disc regeneration. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been fully identified. The present study showed that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) donated mitochondria to adjacent nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) in a coculture system. The mode of mitochondrial transfer between these cells was intercellular tunneling nanotube (TNT), which acted as a transportation expressway for mitochondria. NPCs acquired additional mitochondria from BMSCs in a concentration-dependent manner after rotenone-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in NPCs. Further research demonstrated that TNT-mediated mitochondrial transfer rescued NPCs from mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis, which was indicated by the recovery of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, the increase in mitochondrial membrane potential, and the decreases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and apoptosis rates. Furthermore, Miro1, a critical protein that regulates mitochondrial movement, was knocked down in BMSCs and significantly reduced mitochondrial transfer from BMSCs to NPCs. These results suggested that Miro1 depletion inhibited the rescue of NPCs with mitochondrial dysfunction. Taken together, our data shed light on a novel mechanism by which BMSCs rescue impaired NPCs, providing a concrete foundation to study the critical role of intercellular interactions in disc regeneration.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8916857PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/3613319DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

mitochondrial transfer
16
mitochondrial dysfunction
16
mitochondrial
11
nucleus pulposus
8
pulposus cells
8
dysfunction apoptosis
8
disc regeneration
8
npcs mitochondrial
8
npcs
7
bmscs
5

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!