Regenerative Medicine Division of the Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada.
Centre Universitaire d'Ophtalmologie (CUO)-Recherche, Hôpital du Saint-Sacrement, 1050 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Oct 13;23(20):12201. doi: 10.3390/ijms232012201.
Corneal wound healing involves communication between the different cell types that constitute the three cellular layers of the cornea (epithelium, stroma and endothelium), a process ensured in part by a category of extracellular vesicles called exosomes. In the present study, we isolated exosomes released by primary cultured human corneal epithelial cells (hCECs), corneal fibroblasts (hCFs) and corneal endothelial cells (hCEnCs) and determined whether they have wound healing characteristics of their own and to which point they modify the genetic and proteomic pattern of these cell types. Exosomes released by all three cell types significantly accelerated wound closure of scratch-wounded hCECs in vitro compared to controls (without exosomes). Profiling of activated kinases revealed that exosomes from human corneal cells caused the activation of signal transduction mediators that belong to the HSP27, STAT, β-catenin, GSK-3β and p38 pathways. Most of all, data from gene profiling analyses indicated that exosomes, irrespective of their cellular origin, alter a restricted subset of genes that are completely different between each targeted cell type (hCECs, hCFS, hCEnCs). Analysis of the genes specifically differentially regulated for a given cell-type in the microarray data using the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software revealed that the mean gene expression profile of hCECs cultured in the presence of exosomes would likely promote cell proliferation and migration whereas it would reduce differentiation when compared to control cells. Collectively, our findings represent a conceptual advance in understanding the mechanisms of corneal wound repair that may ultimately open new avenues for the development of novel therapeutic approaches to improve closure of corneal wounds.
角膜伤口愈合涉及构成角膜三个细胞层(上皮、基质和内皮)的不同细胞类型之间的通讯,这一过程部分由一类称为外泌体的细胞外囊泡来保证。在本研究中,我们分离了原代培养的人角膜上皮细胞(hCECs)、角膜成纤维细胞(hCFs)和角膜内皮细胞(hCEnCs)释放的外泌体,并确定它们是否具有自身的伤口愈合特性,以及它们在多大程度上改变了这些细胞类型的基因和蛋白质组模式。与对照组(无外泌体)相比,三种细胞类型释放的外泌体均显著促进体外划痕 hCECs 的伤口闭合。对激活激酶的分析表明,人角膜细胞的外泌体引起 HSP27、STAT、β-catenin、GSK-3β 和 p38 信号通路中信号转导介质的激活。最重要的是,基因谱分析的数据表明,外泌体,无论其细胞来源如何,都会改变一组受靶细胞类型(hCECs、hCFS、hCEnCs)完全不同的受限基因子集。使用 IPA 软件对微阵列数据中针对特定细胞类型的特异性差异调节基因进行分析表明,与对照细胞相比,在存在外泌体的情况下培养的 hCECs 的平均基因表达谱可能会促进细胞增殖和迁移,而减少分化。总之,我们的研究结果代表了对角膜伤口修复机制的理解的概念性进展,这可能最终为开发新的治疗方法以改善角膜伤口闭合开辟新的途径。