Francesco Angelini
1*, Vittoria Ionta
2, Fabrizio Rossi
2, Fabio Miraldi
3, Elisa Messina
4, Alessandro Giacomello
21 Pasteur Institute - Cenci Bolognetti Foundation, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
2 Department of Molecular Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
3 Department of Cardiocirculatory Pathophysiology, Anesthesiology and General Surgery, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161 Rome, Italy
4 Department of Pediatric Cardiology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Abstract
Introduction: Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) represent a powerful tool in cardiac regenerative medicine. Pre-clinical studies suggest that most of the beneficial effects promoted by the injected cells are due to their paracrine activity exerted on endogenous cells and tissue. Exosomes are candidate mediators of this paracrine effects. According to their potential, many researchers have focused on characterizing exosomes derived from specific cell types, but, up until now, only few studies have analyzed the possible in vitro effects of bovine serum-derived exosomes on cell proliferation or differentiation.
Methods: The aim of this study was to analyse, from a qualitative and quantitative point of view, the in vitro effects of bovine serum exosomes on human CPCs cultured either as cardiospheres or as monolayers of cardiosphere-forming cells.
Results: Effects on proliferation, yield and molecular patterning were detected. We show, for the first time, that exogenous bovine exosomes support the proliferation and migration of human cardiosphere-forming cells, and that their depletion affects cardiospheres formation, in terms of size, yield and extra-cellular matrix production.
Conclusion: These results stress the importance of considering differential biological effects of exogenous cell culture supplements on the final phenotype of primary human cell cultures.