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Abstract
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Equine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (eq–ASCs) possess excellent regeneration potential especially
for treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Besides their common characteristics, MSCs harvested from different
species reveal some species-specific and donor-dependent behaviors. Hence, the molecular analysis of MSCs may
shed more light on their future clinical application of these cells. This study aimed to investigate some behavioral
aspects of eq-ASCs in vitro which may influence the efficacy of stem cell therapy. For this purpose, MSCs of a
donor horse were isolated, characterized and expanded under normal culture conditions. During continuous
culture condition, eq-ASCs were started to formed aggregated structures that was accompanied with the upregulation of migratory related genes including transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFB1) and its receptor 3
(TGFBR3), and snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (SNAI1), E-cadherin (CDH1) and β-catenin (CTNNB1).
Moreover, the expression of a musculoskeletal progenitor marker, scleraxis bHLH transcription factor (SCX), was
also increased after 3 days. In order to clarify the impact of TGFB signaling pathway on cultured cells, gain– and
loss-of-function treatment by TGFB3 and SB431542 (TGFB inhibitor) were performed, respectively. We found
that TGFB3 treatment exaggerated the aggregate formation effects, in some extend via induction of cytoskeletal
actin rearrangement, while inhibition of TGFB signaling pathway by SB431542 reversed this phenomenon.
Overall, our findings support the fact that eq-ASCs have an inherent capacity for migration, which was enhanced
by TGFB3 treatment and, this ability may play crucial role in cell motility and wound healing of transplanted
cells.
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