Mitochondrial, Metabolic and Functional Analysis of Different Sources of Murine Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

Cell therapy has been widely used in experimental and clinical studies as a new therapeutic approach, as it modulates inflammation and promotes repair of affected tissues. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs)have been widely studied. MSCs can be obtained from several tissues, such as bone marrow, adipose tissue and lung (ABREU et al., 2008). Therapy with MSCs shows promise for lung diseases, as they are capable of improving lung function and survival in individuals with chronic inflammatory diseases (CRUZ; ROCCO, 2020). Many of these diseases are related to mitochondrial dysfunction of lung structural cells and inflammatory cells. Studies have shown that MSCs are able to replace the defective mitochondria of target cells, compensating their malfunction through mitochondrial transfer between MSCs and damaged cells (AHMAD et al., 2014). Therefore, this process is a strategic target for possible therapies. However, no study has focused on analyzing the distinctions between MSCs from different sources, with regard to mitochondria, metabolic aspects and mitochondrial transfer capacity. Thus, we hypothesized that MSCs from different sources may have differences in the number and metabolic status of mitochondria, as well as in the transfer ability and, consequently, in their therapeutic effects.