In Vivo Tracking of Human Adipose-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in a Rat Knee Osteoarthritis Model with Fluorescent Lipophilic Membrane Dye

Summary

This protocol describes an efficient way to monitor the cell persistence and biodistribution of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (haMSCs) by far-red fluorescence labeling in a rat knee osteoarthritis (KOA) model via intra-articular (IA) injection.

Abstract

In order to support the clinical application of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell (haMSC) therapy for knee osteoarthritis (KOA), we examined the efficacy of cell persistence and biodistribution of haMSCs in animal models. We demonstrated a method to label the cell membrane of haMSCs with lipophilic fluorescent dye. Subsequently, intra-articular injection of the labeled cells in rats with surgically induced KOA was monitored dynamically by an in vivo imaging system. We employed the lipophilic carbocyanines DiD (DilC₁₈ (5)), a far-red fluorescent Dil (dialkylcarbocyanines) analog, which utilized a red laser to avoid excitation of the natural green autofluorescence from surrounding tissues. Furthermore, the red-shifted emission spectra of DiD allowed deep-tissue imaging in live animals and the labeling procedure caused no cytotoxic effects or functional damage to haMSCs. This approach has been shown to be an efficient tracking method for haMSCs in a rat KOA model. The application of this method could also be used to determine the optimal administration route and dosage of MSCs from other sources in pre-clinical studies.

Introduction

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a degenerative disorder resulting from articular cartilage loss and progressive inflammation, which has become a major chronic disease in the elderly around the world¹. However, current therapies using anti-inflammatory drugs, physical supplements, and surgical procedures may only provide temporary relief for symptomatic pain².

Human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (haMSCs) have become a promising regenerative remedy for knee osteoarthritis, owing to their multipotent differentiation potential for cartilage regeneration and immunomodulatory properties

Protocol

Procedures involving animal subjects were approved by the local Institutional Animal Care and Ethics Committee, with an effort to minimize animal suffering. The following protocol was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital affiliated to Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine with the protocol number [2017]063.

1. Establishment of a Surgically-Induced Rat Knee Osteoarthritis Model

1. For this surgical procedure, use 8 - 12 week old male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats with a body weight between 250 and 300 g.
2. Anesthetize the animals with 40 mg/kg tile....

Results

In order to induce KOA model, MM was performed in the right knee joint of SD rats (Figure 3). Eight weeks after surgery, rats were sacrificed and the serial sections of knee joints were evaluated with both H&E and Safranin O/Fast Green staining (Figure 4). For H&E staining, the surface of the articular cartilage exhibited rougher borders in the surgery knees than the normal joint without surgery. For Safranin-O/Fast green.......

Discussion

Safety standards and biodistribution studies of stem cell therapy are urgently needed before we can bring regenerative stem cell treatment for KOA from the bench to the bedside. However, the pathological environment of disease plays an important role in the persistence and biodistribution of transplanted haMSCs¹⁰. Recently, our group demonstrated that intra-articular injection of haMSCs persisted longer in a pathological KOA environment than did injections under normal conditions^.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Matrx VMR animal anesthesia system	Midmark	VIP3000
4-0 suture	Shanghai Jinhuan	KC439
Razor	Pritech	LD-9987
Gentamicin	Zhejiang Jindakang Animal Health Product Co., Ltd.	None
0.9% Sodium chloride solution	Hunan Kelun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.	H43020455
Penicillin	Shanghai Kangfu chemical pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.	None
Buprenorphine	Tianjin Pharmaceutical Research Institute Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.	None
Paraformaldehyde	Sigma-Aldrich	16005	Dilute to final concentration of 10% in PBS
EDTA	Sigma-Aldrich	E9884	Dilute to final concentration of 20% in PBS
0.1% Hematoxylin Solution, Mayer’s	Sigma-Aldrich	MHS16
0.5% Eosin Y solution, alcoholic	Sigma-Aldrich	HT110116
Safranin O	Sigma-Aldrich	S8884
Fast Green	Sigma-Aldrich	F7258
Shandon Excelsior ESTM Tissue Processor	Thermo Fisher	A78400006
Shandon Histocentre™ 3 Tissue Embedding Center	Thermo Fisher	B64100010
Fully Automated Rotary Microtome	Leica	RM2255
DiD	Molecular Probes, Life Technologies	V-22887
D-MEM High Glucose	Sigma-Aldrich	D5648
PBS	GIBCO, Life Technologies	14190-144
0.25% Trypsin-EDTA	Invitrogen	25200-114
10 cm Petri Dish	Corning	V118877
Centrifuge	Beckman	Optima MAX-TL
Fluorescent microscope	Olympus	BX53
0.4% Trypan Blue solution	Sigma-Aldrich	93595
Titetamme	Virbac (Zoletil 50)	1000000188
Zolazepam	Virbac (Zoletil 50)	1000000188
Sterile hyposermic syringe for single use 26G	Shanghai Misawa Medical Industry	None
IVIS Spectrum In Vivo Imaging System	PerkinElmer	124262
Living Imaging 4.0 software	PerkinElmer	None