Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease characterized by excessive accumulation of the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) in the brain, which has been considered to mediate the neuroinflammation process. Microglial activation is the main component of neuroimmunoregulation. In recent years, exosomes isolated from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hucMSC-exosomes) have been demonstrated to mimic the therapeutic effects of hucMSCs in many inflammation-related diseases. In this study, exosomes from the supernatant of hucMSCs were injected into AD mouse models. We observed that hucMSC-exosomes injection could repair cognitive disfunctions and help to clear Aβ deposition in these mice. Moreover, we found that hucMSC-exosomes injection could modulate the activation of microglia in brains of the mice to alleviated neuroinflammation. The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood and brains of mice were increased and the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines were decreased. We also treated BV2 cells with hucMSC-exosomes in culture medium. HucMSC-exosomes also had inflammatory regulating effects to alternatively activate microglia and modulate the levels of inflammatory cytokines in vitro.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- AD:
-
Alzheimer disease
- Aβ:
-
Amyloid β- peptides
- hucMSC-exosomes:
-
Exosomes isolated from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells
- CNS:
-
Central nervous system
- BBB:
-
Blood–brain barrier
- PBS:
-
Phosphate-buffered saline
- RC:
-
Reagent of the control group
- MWM:
-
Morris water-maze
- PB:
-
Peripheral blood
- TGF-β:
-
Transforming growth factor-β
- IL-10:
-
Interleukin-10
- TNF-α:
-
Tumor necrosis factor-α
- IL-1β:
-
Interleukin-1β
- ELISA:
-
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
- NEP:
-
Neprilysin
- IDE:
-
Insulin-degrading enzyme
- YM-1:
-
Chitinase 3-like 3
- Arg-1:
-
Arginase-1
- CD163:
-
Haptoglobin/hemoglobin scavenger receptor
- FIZZ1:
-
Found in inflammatory zone 1
- MRC1:
-
Mannose receptors C type 1
References
Moonga J, Likupe G (2016) A systematic literature review on nurses’ and health care support workers’ experiences of caring for people with dementia on orthopaedic wards. J Clin Nurs 25(13–14):1789–1804
Iwata N, Higuchi M, Saido TC (2005) Metabolism of amyloid-β peptide and Alzheimer’s disease. Pharmacol Ther 108(2):129–148
Krause DL, Müller N (2010) Neuroinflammation, microglia and implications for anti-inflammatory treatment in Alzheimer’s disease. Int J Alzheimer’s Dis. https://doi.org/10.4061/2010/732806
Pelekanos RA, Li J, Gongora M, Chandrakanthan V, Scown J, Suhaimi N, Brooke G, Christensen ME, Doan T, Rice AM (2012) Comprehensive transcriptome and immunophenotype analysis of renal and cardiac MSC-like populations supports strong congruence with bone marrow MSC despite maintenance of distinct identities. Stem Cell Res 8(1):58–73
Weiss ML, Anderson C, Medicetty S, Seshareddy KB, Weiss RJ, VanderWerff I, Troyer D, McIntosh KR (2008) Immune properties of human umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly-derived cells. Stem Cells 26(11):2865–2874
Yang H, Yang H, Xie Z, Wei L, Bi J (2013) Systemic transplantation of human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells-educated T regulatory cells improved the impaired cognition in AβPPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic mice. PLoS ONE 8(7):e69129
Xie Z-H, Liu Z, Zhang X-R, Yang H, Wei L-F, Wang Y, Xu S-L, Sun L, Lai C, Bi J-Z (2016) Wharton’s Jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells alleviate memory deficits and reduce amyloid-β deposition in an APP/PS1 transgenic mouse model. Clin Exp Med 16(1):89–98
Schorey JS, Bhatnagar S (2008) Exosome function: from tumor immunology to pathogen biology. Traffic 9(6):871–881
Zhang B, Shen L, Shi H, Pan Z, Wu L, Yan Y, Zhang X, Mao F, Qian H, Xu W (2016) Exosomes from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells: identification, purification, and biological characteristics. Stem Cells Int. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/1929536
Wood MJ, O’Loughlin AJ, Lakhal S (2011) Exosomes and the blood–brain barrier: implications for neurological diseases. Ther Deliv 2(9):1095–1099
Matsumoto J, Stewart T, Banks W, Zhang J (2017) The transport mechanism of extracellular vesicles at the blood-brain barrier. Curr Pharm Des 23(40):6206–6014
Chen CC, Liu L, Ma F, Wong CW, Guo XE, Chacko JV, Farhoodi HP, Zhang SX, Zimak J, Ségaliny A (2016) Elucidation of exosome migration across the blood–brain barrier model in vitro. Cell Mol Bioeng 9(4):509–529
Yang T, Martin P, Fogarty B, Brown A, Schurman K, Phipps R, Yin VP, Lockman P, Bai S (2015) Exosome delivered anticancer drugs across the blood-brain barrier for brain cancer therapy in Danio rerio. Pharm Res 32(6):2003–2014
Endo F, Komine O, Fujimori-Tonou N, Katsuno M, Jin S, Watanabe S, Sobue G, Dezawa M, Wyss-Coray T, Yamanaka K (2015) Astrocyte-derived TGF-β1 accelerates disease progression in ALS mice by interfering with the neuroprotective functions of microglia and T cells. Cell Rep 11(4):592–604
Dominici M, Le Blanc K, Mueller I, Slaper-Cortenbach I, Marini F, Krause D, Deans R, Keating A, Prockop D, Horwitz E (2006) Minimal criteria for defining multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells. The International Society for Cellular Therapy position statement. Cytotherapy 8(4):315–317
Lee J-K, Park S-R, Jung B-K, Jeon Y-K, Lee Y-S, Kim M-K, Kim Y-G, Jang J-Y, Kim C-W (2013) Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells suppress angiogenesis by down-regulating VEGF expression in breast cancer cells. PLoS ONE 8(12):e84256
Mokarizadeh A, Delirezh N, Morshedi A, Mosayebi G, Farshid A-A, Mardani K (2012) Microvesicles derived from mesenchymal stem cells: potent organelles for induction of tolerogenic signaling. Immunol Lett 147(1–2):47–54
Raha S, Lee HJ, Yumnam S, Hong GE, Saralamma VVG, Ha YL, Kim JO, Kim YS, Heo JD, Lee SJ (2016) Vitamin D2 suppresses amyloid-β 25–35 induced microglial activation in BV2 cells by blocking the NF-κB inflammatory signaling pathway. Life Sci 161:37–44
Ruan L, Kang Z, Pei G, Le Y (2009) Amyloid deposition and inflammation in APPswe/PS1dE9 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Alzheimer Res 6(6):531–540
Garcia-Alloza M, Robbins EM, Zhang-Nunes SX, Purcell SM, Betensky RA, Raju S, Prada C, Greenberg SM, Bacskai BJ, Frosch MP (2006) Characterization of amyloid deposition in the APPswe/PS1dE9 mouse model of Alzheimer disease. Neurobiol Dis 24(3):516–524
Huang P, Lin LM, Wu XY, Tang QL, Feng XY, Lin GY, Lin X, Wang HW, Huang TH, Ma L (2010) Differentiation of human umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells into germ-like cells in vitro. J Cell Biochem 109(4):747–754
Ordonez-Gutierrez L, Fernandez-Perez I, Herrera JL, Anton M, Benito-Cuesta I, Wandosell F (2016) AβPP/PS1 transgenic mice show sex differences in the cerebellum associated with aging. J Alzheimers Dis 54(2):645–656
Vorhees CV, Williams MT (2006) Morris water maze: procedures for assessing spatial and related forms of learning and memory. Nat Protoc 1(2):848
Nichols JE, Niles JA, DeWitt D, Prough D, Parsley M, Vega S, Cantu A, Lee E, Cortiella J (2013) Neurogenic and neuro-protective potential of a novel subpopulation of peripheral blood-derived CD133+ ABCG2+ CXCR4+ mesenchymal stem cells: development of autologous cell-based therapeutics for traumatic brain injury. Stem Cell Res Ther 4(1):3
Livak KJ, Schmittgen TD (2001) Analysis of relative gene expression data using real-time quantitative PCR and the 2–∆∆CT method. Methods 25(4):402–408
Lee JK, Jin HK, Endo S, Schuchman EH, Carter JE, Bae J (2010) Intracerebral transplantation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells reduces amyloid-beta deposition and rescues memory deficits in Alzheimer’s disease mice by modulation of immune responses. Stem Cells 28(2):329–343
Reilly JF, Games D, Rydel RE, Freedman S, Schenk D, Young WG, Morrison JH, Bloom FE (2003) Amyloid deposition in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex: quantitative analysis of a transgenic mouse model. Proc Natl Acad Sci 100(8):4837–4842
Salloway S, Mintzer J, Weiner MF, Cummings JL (2008) Disease-modifying therapies in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Dement 4(2):65–79
Reale M, Brenner T, Greig NH, Inestrosa N, Paleacu D (2010) Neuroinflammation, AD, and dementia. Int J Alzheimer’s Dis. https://doi.org/10.4061/2010/97402
Wang S, Wang R, Chen L, Bennett DA, Dickson DW, Wang DS (2010) Expression and functional profiling of neprilysin, insulin-degrading enzyme, and endothelin-converting enzyme in prospectively studied elderly and Alzheimer’s brain. J Neurochem 115(1):47–57
Edbauer D, Willem M, Lammich S, Steiner H, Haass C (2002) Insulin-degrading enzyme rapidly removes the β-amyloid precursor protein intracellular domain (AICD). J Biol Chem 277(16):13389–13393
Xin H, Li Y, Buller B, Katakowski M, Zhang Y, Wang X, Shang X, Zhang ZG, Chopp M (2012) Exosome-mediated transfer of miR-133b from multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells to neural cells contributes to neurite outgrowth. Stem Cells 30(7):1556–1564
Squadrito ML, Baer C, Burdet F, Maderna C, Gilfillan GD, Lyle R, Ibberson M, De Palma M (2014) Endogenous RNAs modulate microRNA sorting to exosomes and transfer to acceptor cells. Cell Rep 8(5):1432–1446
Baglio SR, Rooijers K, Koppers-Lalic D, Verweij FJ, Lanzón MP, Zini N, Naaijkens B, Perut F, Niessen HW, Baldini N (2015) Human bone marrow-and adipose-mesenchymal stem cells secrete exosomes enriched in distinctive miRNA and tRNA species. Stem Cell Res Ther 6(1):127
Chen TS, Lai RC, Lee MM, Choo ABH, Lee CN, Lim SK (2009) Mesenchymal stem cell secretes microparticles enriched in pre-microRNAs. Nucleic Acids Res 38(1):215–224
Li X, Liu L, Yang J, Yu Y, Chai J, Wang L, Ma L, Yin H (2016) Exosome derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell mediates mir-181c attenuating burn-induced excessive inflammation. EBioMedicine 8:72–82
Mao F, Wu Y, Tang X, Kang J, Zhang B, Yan Y, Qian H, Zhang X, Xu W (2017) Exosomes derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells relieve inflammatory bowel disease in mice. BioMed Res Int. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/5356760
Blazquez R, Sanchez-Margallo FM, de la Rosa O, Dalemans W, Álvarez V, Tarazona R, Casado JG (2014) Immunomodulatory potential of human adipose mesenchymal stem cells derived exosomes on in vitro stimulated T cells. Front Immunol 5:556
Sica A, Mantovani A (2012) Macrophage plasticity and polarization: in vivo veritas. J Clin Investig 122(3):787–795
Franco R, Fernandez-Suarez D (2015) Alternatively activated microglia and macrophages in the central nervous system. Prog Neurobiol 131:65–86
Tang Y, Le W (2016) Differential roles of M1 and M2 microglia in neurodegenerative diseases. Mol Neurobiol 53(2):1181–1194
Colton CA, Wilcock DM (2010) Assessing activation states in microglia. CNS & Neurol Disord-Drug Targ 9(2):174–191
Mammana S, Fagone P, Cavalli E, Basile MS, Petralia MC, Nicoletti F, Bramanti P, Mazzon E (2018) The role of macrophages in neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative pathways of Alzheimer’s Disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis: pathogenetic cellular effectors and potential therapeutic targets. Int J Mol Sci 19(3):831
Chen J, Sun Z, Jin M, Tu Y, Wang S, Yang X, Chen Q, Zhang X, Han Y, Pi R (2017) Inhibition of AGEs/RAGE/Rho/ROCK pathway suppresses non-specific neuroinflammation by regulating BV2 microglial M1/M2 polarization through the NF-κB pathway. J Neuroimmunol 305:108–114
Gong L, Wang H, Sun X, Liu C, Duan C, Cai R, Gu X, Zhu S (2016) Toll-Interleukin 1 Receptor domain-containing adaptor protein positively regulates BV 2 cell M1 polarization. Eur J Neurosci 43(12):1674–1682
Luccarini I, Grossi C, Traini C, Fiorentini A, Dami TE, Casamenti F (2012) Aβ plaque-associated glial reaction as a determinant of apoptotic neuronal death and cortical gliogenesis: a study in APP mutant mice. Neurosci Lett 506(1):94–99
Lull ME, Levesque S, Surace MJ, Block ML (2011) Chronic apocynin treatment attenuates beta amyloid plaque size and microglial number in hAPP (751) SL mice. PLoS ONE 6(5):e20153
Hickman SE, Allison EK, El Khoury J (2008) Microglial dysfunction and defective β-amyloid clearance pathways in aging Alzheimer’s disease mice. J Neurosci 28(33):8354–8360
Colton CA (2009) Heterogeneity of microglial activation in the innate immune response in the brain. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 4(4):399–418
Sawada M, Suzumura A, Hosoya H, Marunouchi T, Nagatsu T (1999) Interleukin-10 inhibits both production of cytokines and expression of cytokine receptors in microglia. J Neurochem 72(4):1466–1471
Butovsky O, Talpalar AE, Ben-Yaakov K, Schwartz M (2005) Activation of microglia by aggregated β-amyloid or lipopolysaccharide impairs MHC-II expression and renders them cytotoxic whereas IFN-γ and IL-4 render them protective. Mol Cell Neurosci 29(3):381–393
François A, Julian A, Ragot S, Dugast E, Blanchard L, Brishoual S, Chassaing D, Page G, Paccalin M (2015) Inflammatory stress on autophagy in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with Alzheimer’s disease during 24 months of follow-up. PLoS ONE 10(9):e0138326
Macchi B, Marino-Merlo F, Frezza C, Cuzzocrea S, Mastino A (2014) Inflammation and programmed cell death in Alzheimer’s disease: comparison of the central nervous system and peripheral blood. Mol Neurobiol 50(2):463–472
Ransohoff RM (2016) A polarizing question: do M1 and M2 microglia exist? Nat Neurosci 19(8):987
Orihuela R, McPherson CA, Harry GJ (2016) Microglial M1/M2 polarization and metabolic states. Br J Pharmacol 173(4):649–665
Tang J, Yu W, Chen S, Gao Z, Xiao B (2018) Microglia polarization and endoplasmic reticulum stress in chronic social defeat stress induced depression mouse. Neurochem Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-018-2504-0
Wang D-S, Dickson DW, Malter JS (2006) β-Amyloid degradation and Alzheimer’s disease. BioMed Res Int. https://doi.org/10.1155/JBB/2006/58406
Hellström-Lindahl E, Ravid R, Nordberg A (2008) Age-dependent decline of neprilysin in Alzheimer’s disease and normal brain: inverse correlation with Aβ levels. Neurobiol Aging 29(2):210–221
Malito E, Hulse RE, Tang W-J (2008) Amyloid β-degrading cryptidases: insulin degrading enzyme, presequence peptidase, and neprilysin. Cell Mol Life Sci 65(16):2574–2585
Leissring MA, Farris W, Chang AY, Walsh DM, Wu X, Sun X, Frosch MP, Selkoe DJ (2003) Enhanced proteolysis of β-amyloid in APP transgenic mice prevents plaque formation, secondary pathology, and premature death. Neuron 40(6):1087–1093
Hardy J, Selkoe DJ (2002) The amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer’s disease: progress and problems on the road to therapeutics. Science 297(5580):353–356
Rowan M, Klyubin I, Wang Q, Hu N, Anwyl R (2007) Synaptic memory mechanisms: Alzheimer’s disease amyloid β-peptide-induced dysfunction. Biochem Soc Trans 35:1219–1223
Das A, Ganesh K, Khanna S, Sen CK, Roy S (2014) Engulfment of apoptotic cells by macrophages: a role of microRNA-21 in the resolution of wound inflammation. J Immunol 192(3):1120–1129
Cui G-H, Wu J, Mou F-F, Xie W-H, Wang F-B, Wang Q-L, Fang J, Xu Y-W, Dong Y-R, Liu J-R (2017) Exosomes derived from hypoxia-preconditioned mesenchymal stromal cells ameliorate cognitive decline by rescuing synaptic dysfunction and regulating inflammatory responses in APP/PS1 mice. FASEB J 32(2):654–668
Funding
This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 81401052, 81571052), The Special fund for basic research and business funds of Chinese Centre Universities (Grant No. 2018BTS01), Science and Technology Development Plan Project of Shandong Province (Grant Nos. 2017GSF218036, 2017GSF218046), The Fundamental Research Funds of Shandong University (Grant No. 2016JC022), Youth Talent Fund of the 2nd Hospital of Shandong University (Grant No. 2018YT09) and Focus on research and development projects in Shandong province (Grant No. 2015GSF118056).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
MD designed and performed the experiments and wrote the manuscript. YS, ZHX participated in designing the experiments. PW, SLX, and ZYZ provided assistance for data analysis, mouse-injection experiments, and ELISA assay, respectively. YW, YTL, LLX and DWW were responsible for mouse-behavior observation. HY and JZB participated in designing the experiments and drafting the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript for publication.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
Ethics Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of Shandong University and the ethical committee of the Second Hospital of Shandong University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. All applicable Shandong University and the ethical committee of the Second Hospital of Shandong University guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ding, M., Shen, Y., Wang, P. et al. Exosomes Isolated From Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells Alleviate Neuroinflammation and Reduce Amyloid-Beta Deposition by Modulating Microglial Activation in Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurochem Res 43, 2165–2177 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-018-2641-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-018-2641-5