Conditioned medium of periodontal ligament mesenchymal stem cells exert anti-inflammatory effects in lipopolysaccharide-activated mouse motoneurons

Conditioned medium derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) shows immunomodulatory and neuroprotective effects in preclinical models. Given the difficulty to harvest MSCs from bone marrow and adipose tissues, research has been focused to find alternative resources for MSCs, such as oral-derived tissues. Recently, we have demonstrated the protective effects of MSCs obtained from healthy human periodontal ligament tissue (hPDLSCs) in murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model. In the present in vitro study, we have investigated the immunomodulatory and neuroprotective effects of conditioned medium obtained from hPDLSCs of Relapsing Remitting- Multiple sclerosis (RR-MS) patients on NSC34 mouse motoneurons stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Immunocytochemistry and western blotting were performed. Increased level of TLR4 and NFκB, and reduced level of IκB-α were observed in LPS-stimulated motoneurons, which were modulated by pre-conditioning with hPDLSC-conditioned medium. Inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-10), neuroprotective markers (Nestin, NFL 70, NGF, GAP43), and apoptotic markers (Bax, Bcl-2, p21) were modulated. Moreover, extracellular vesicles of hPDLSC-conditioned medium showed the presence of anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and TGF-β. Our results demonstrate the immunosuppressive properties of hPDLSC-conditioned medium of RR-MS patients in motoneurons subjected to inflammation. Our findings warrant further preclinical and clinical studies to elucidate the autologous therapeutic efficacy of hPDLSC-conditioned medium in neurodegenerative diseases.