Periosteum-derived mesenchymal stem cell alleviates renal fibrosis through mTOR-mediated Treg differentiation

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the hotspots of cellular therapy due to their low immunogenicity, potent immunoregulation, and unique renoprotection. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of periosteum-derived MSCs (PMSCs) in ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-mediated renal fibrosis.

Using cell proliferation assay, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and histologic analysis, the differences in cell characteristics, immunoregulation, and renoprotection of PMSCs were compared to the bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMSCs), the most frequently studied stem cells in cellular therapy. In addition, the mechanism of PMSC renoprotection was investigated by 5' end of the RNA transcript sequencing (SMART-seq) and mTOR knockout mice.

The proliferation and differentiation capabilities of PMSCs were stronger than those of BMSCs. Compared with BMSCs, the PMSCs exerted a better effect on alleviating renal fibrosis. Meanwhile, the PMSCs more effectively promote Treg differentiation. Treg exhaustion experiment indicated that Tregs exerted an important effect on inhibiting renal inflammation and acted as a critical mediator in PMSC renoprotection. Additionally, SMART-seq results implied that the PMSCs promoted Treg differentiation, possibly via the mTOR pathway. In vivo and in vitro experiments showed that PMSC inhibited mTOR phosphorylation of Treg. After mTOR knockout, the PMSCs failed to promote Treg differentiation.

Compared with BMSCs, the PMSCs exerted stronger immunoregulation and renoprotection that was mainly attributed to PMSC promotion for Treg differentiation by inhibiting the mTOR pathway.