The differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells to vascular cells regulated by the HMGB1/RAGE axis: its application in cell therapy for transplant arteriosclerosis

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation shows promise for treating transplant arteriosclerosis, at least partly via promoting endothelial regeneration. However, the efficacy and safety are still under investigation especially regarding recent findings that neointimal smooth muscle cells are derived from MSC-like cells. The high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1)/receptor for advanced glycation end-product (RAGE) axis is involved in regulating proliferation, migration, and differentiation of MSCs, and therefore it can be presumably applied to improve the outcome of cell therapy. The aim of the current study was to investigate this hypothesis. METHODS: Rat MSCs were treated with HMGB1 or modified with HMGB1 vectors to activate the HMGB1/RAGE axis. RAGE was targeted and inhibited by specific short hairpin RNA vectors. We assessed the capacity for cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation after vector transfection in vitro and in a rat model of transplant arteriosclerosis. The expression of CD31 and α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) was determined to evaluate the differentiation of MSCs to endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells. RESULTS: Exogenous HMGB1 treatment and transfection with HMGB1 vectors promoted MSC migration and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced differentiation to CD31(+) cells while inhibiting their proliferation and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-induced differentiation to αSMA(+) cells. Such an effect was blocked by RAGE knockdown. HMGB1-modified cells preferably migrated to graft neointima and differentiated to CD31(+) cells along with significant relief of transplant arteriosclerosis and inhibition of HMGB1 and RAGE expression in graft vessels. RAGE knockdown inhibited cell migration to graft vessels. CONCLUSIONS: HMGB1 stimulated MSCs to migrate and differentiate to endothelial cells via RAGE signaling, which we translated to successful application in cell therapy for transplant arteriosclerosis. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13287-018-0827-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.