Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Mar 26, 2023; 15(3): 90-104
Published online Mar 26, 2023. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v15.i3.90
Mammalian Ste20-like kinase 1 inhibition as a cellular mediator of anoikis in mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells
Tao Zhang, Qian Zhang, Wan-Cheng Yu
Tao Zhang, Qian Zhang, Wan-Cheng Yu, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan 250062, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Yu WC contributed to the conception and design and manuscript writing; Zhang T contributed to conception and design, collection and assembly of data, data analysis and interpretation. Yu WC, Zhang T, Zhang Q performed the experiments; All authors participated in discussing, revising the manuscript, and approving the final manuscript; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China, No. ZR2020MH014, No. ZR2021QH179 and No. ZR2021MH182.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: Ethical approval was obtain from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University. Experimental procedures were carried out according to the internationally accepted norms and principles under protocol (Approval No. 2020-333).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Wan-Cheng Yu, Doctor, MD, Surgeon, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, No. 324 Jingwu Weiqi Road, Jinan 250062, Shandong Province, China. yuwancheng123@126.com
Received: June 30, 2022
Peer-review started: June 30, 2022
First decision: December 30, 2022
Revised: January 6, 2023
Accepted: February 16, 2023
Article in press: February 16, 2023
Published online: March 26, 2023
Processing time: 265 Days and 18.4 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Anoikis plays a limiting role in the therapeutic efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). As a proapoptotic molecule, mammalian Ste20-like kinase 1 (Mst1) can increase the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby promoting anoikis. Recently, Mst1 inhibition was found to protect mouse bone marrow MSCs (mBMSCs) from H2O2-induced cell apoptosis by inducing autophagy and reducing ROS production. However, the influence of Mst1 inhibition on anoikis in mBMSCs remains unclear.

Research motivation

To investigate whether Mst1 inhibition could reduce anoikis in isolated mBMSCs.

Research objectives

To investigate the mechanisms by which Mst1 inhibition acts on anoikis in isolated mBMSCs.

Research methods

Poly-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-induced anoikis was used following Mst1 inhibition in mBMSCs. Integrin (ITGs) levels were tested by flow cytometry. Autophagy and ITGα5β1 were inhibited using 3-methyladenine and small interfering RNA, respectively. The alterations in anoikis were evaluated by Terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl Transferase Mediated Nick End Labeling and anoikis assays. The levels of the anoikis-related proteins ITGα5, ITGβ1, and phospho-focal adhesion kinase, which activate caspase 3, and the autophagy-related proteins microtubules associated protein 1 light chain 3 II/I, Beclin1 and p62 were detected by Western blotting.

Research results

In isolated mBMSCs, Mst1 expression was upregulated, and Mst1 inhibition significantly reduced cell apoptosis, induced autophagy and decreased ROS levels. Mechanistically, we found that Mst1 inhibition upregulated ITGα5 and ITGβ1 expression but not ITGα4, ITGαv, or ITGβ3 expression. Moreover, ITGα5β1 upregulation and autophagy induction by Mst1 inhibition played an essential role in terms of the protective efficacy of Mst1 inhibition on averting anoikis.

Research conclusions

Mst1 inhibition ameliorated autophagy formation, increased ITGα5β1 expression, and decreased the excessive production of ROS, thereby reducing cell apoptosis in isolated mBMSCs. On this basis, Mst1 inhibition may provide a promising strategy to overcome the anoikis of transplanted MSCs.

Research perspectives

In isolated mBMSCs, Mst1 inhibition ameliorated not only autophagy formation but also ITGα5β1 expression (not ITGα4, ITGαv, or ITGβ3). Mst1 inhibition-induced autophagy scavenged excessive ITGα5β1-triggered ROS. Consequently, Mst1 inhibition-based infusion may improve the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs, thereby serving as an ideal candidate for clinical transplantation in pulmonary arterial hypertension.