Single-Cell Transcriptomics of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Reveal Age-Related Cellular Subpopulation Depletion and Impaired Regenerative Function
Abstract
Although bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are widely recognized as promising therapeutic agents, the age-related impacts on cellular function remain largely uncharacterized. In this study, we found that BM-MSCs from young donors healed wounds in a xenograft model faster compared with their aged counterparts (p < .001). Given this significant healing advantage, we then used single-cell transcriptomic analysis to provide potential molecular insights into these observations. We found that the young cells contained a higher proportion of cells characterized by a higher expression of genes involved in tissue regeneration. In addition, we identified a unique, quiescent subpopulation that was exclusively present in young donor cells. Together, these findings may explain a novel mechanism for the enhanced healing capacity of young stem cells and may have implications for autologous cell therapy in the extremes of age. Stem Cells 2019;37:240–246
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Nov 09, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.1002/stem.2934
Entities
People
- Danika M. Khong
- Dominik Duscher
- Geoffrey C. Gurtner
- Matthias M. Aitzetmüller
- Ming Lee
- Nina Kosaric
- Richard Schäfer
- Sacha M. L. Khong
- Ursula Hopfner
- Yixiao Dong
Organizations
- Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine
- Emory University
- Harvard University
- National Institutes of Health
- Oak Foundation
- Stanford University
- Technical University of Munich