Extracellular vesicles from differentiated stem cells contain novel proangiogenic miRNAs and induce angiogenic responses at low doses

Despoina Kesidou, Matthew Bennett, João P. Monteiro, Ian R. McCracken, Eftychia Klimi, Julie Rodor, Alison Condie, Scott Cowan, Andrea Caporali, Jan B.M. Wit, Joanne C. Mountford, Mairi Brittan, Abdelaziz Beqqali*, Andrew H. Baker*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released from healthy endothelial cells (ECs) have shown potential for promoting angiogenesis, but their therapeutic efficacy remains poorly understood. We have previously shown that transplantation of a human embryonic stem cell–derived endothelial cell product (hESC-ECP), promotes new vessel formation in acute ischemic disease in mice, likely via paracrine mechanism(s). Here, we demonstrated that EVs from hESC-ECPs (hESC-eEVs) significantly increased EC tube formation and wound closure in vitro at ultralow doses, whereas higher doses were ineffective. More important, EVs isolated from the mesodermal stage of the differentiation (hESC-mEVs) had no effect. Small RNA sequencing revealed that hESC-eEVs have a unique transcriptomic profile and are enriched in known proangiogenic microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs). Moreover, an in silico analysis identified three novel hESC-eEV-miRNAs with potential proangiogenic function. Differential expression analysis suggested that two of those, miR-4496 and miR-4691-5p, are highly enriched in hESC-eEVs. Overexpression of miR-4496 or miR-4691-5p resulted in increased EC tube formation and wound closure in vitro, validating the novel proangiogenic function of these miRNAs. In summary, we demonstrated that hESC-eEVs are potent inducers of EC angiogenic response at ultralow doses and contain a unique EV-associated miRNA repertoire, including miR-4496 and miR-4691-5p, with novel proangiogenic function.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)185-203
Number of pages19
JournalMolecular Therapy
Volume32
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jan 2024

Keywords

  • angiogenesis
  • delivery
  • dose response
  • endothelial cell differentiation
  • extracellular vesicles
  • microRNA
  • miR-4496
  • miR-4691-5p
  • myocardial infarction
  • vasculature

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