Mesenchymal stem cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells improve the engraftment of myogenic cells by secreting urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR)

BACKGROUND: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe X-linked recessive disease caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. Transplantation of myogenic stem cells holds great promise for treating muscular dystrophies. However, poor engraftment of myogenic stem cells limits the therapeutic effects of cell therapy. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been reported to secrete soluble factors necessary for skeletal muscle growth and regeneration. METHODS: We induced MSC-like cells (iMSCs) from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and examined the effects of iMSCs on the proliferation and differentiation of human myogenic cells and on the engraftment of human myogenic cells in the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle of NSG-mdx(4Cv) mice, an immunodeficient dystrophin-deficient DMD model. We also examined the cytokines secreted by iMSCs and tested their effects on the engraftment of human myogenic cells. RESULTS: iMSCs promoted the proliferation and differentiation of human myogenic cells to the same extent as bone marrow-derived (BM)-MSCs in coculture experiments. In cell transplantation experiments, iMSCs significantly improved the engraftment of human myogenic cells injected into the TA muscle of NSG-mdx(4Cv) mice. Cytokine array analysis revealed that iMSCs produced insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 2 (IGFBP2), urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) at higher levels than did BM-MSCs. We further found that uPAR stimulates the migration of human myogenic cells in vitro and promotes their engraftment into the TA muscles of immunodeficient NOD/Scid mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that iMSCs are a new tool to improve the engraftment of myogenic progenitors in dystrophic muscle. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13287-021-02594-1.