Mitochondrial Transfer Via Tunneling Nanotubes Between Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Retinal Pigment Epithelium In Vitro

Summary

Here, we present a protocol including mitochondrial tracing, direct co-culture procedures of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE19), as well as the methods for observing and statistically analyzing tunneling nanotubes (TNT) formation and mitochondrial transfer to characterize mitochondrial exchange via TNTs between MSCs and ARPE19 cells.

Abstract

Mitochondrial transfer is a normal physiological phenomenon that occurs widely among various types of cells. In the study to date, the most important pathway for mitochondrial transport is through tunneling nanotubes (TNTs). There have been many studies reporting that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can transfer mitochondria to other cells by TNTs. However, few studies have demonstrated the phenomenon of bidirectional mitochondrial transfer. Here, our protocol describes an experimental approach to study the phenomenon of mitochondrial transfer between MSCs and retinal pigment epithelial cells in vitro by two mitochondrial tracing methods.

We co-cultured mito-GFP-transfected MSCs with mito-RFP-transfected ARPE19 cells (a retinal pigment epithelial cell line) for 24 h. Then, all cells were stained with phalloidin and imaged by confocal microscopy. We observed mitochondria with green fluorescence in ARPE19 cells and mitochondria with red fluorescence in MSCs, indicating that bidirectional mitochondrial transfer occurs between MSCs and ARPE19 cells. This phenomenon suggests that mitochondrial transport is a normal physiological phenomenon that also occurs between MSCs and ARPE19 cells, and mitochondrial transfer from MSCs to ARPE19 cells occurs much more frequently than vice versa. Our results indicate that MSCs can transfer mitochondria into retinal pigment epithelium, and similarly predict that MSCs can fulfill their therapeutic potential through mitochondrial transport in the retinal pigment epithelium in the future. Additionally, mitochondrial transfer from ARPE19 cells to MSCs remains to be further explored.

Introduction

Mitochondria serve as the primary energy source for most cell types, with mitochondrial dysfunction particularly impacting high-energy-demanding tissues like the retina¹. Metabolic alterations in the retina can trigger a bioenergetic crisis, ultimately resulting in the death of photoreceptors and/or RPE cells². Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapies have demonstrated efficacy in treating ocular degeneration, and one of the precise mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of MSCs on retinal tissues may be attributed to functional mitochondrial transfer^3,4....

Protocol

1. Generation of MSC-mito-GFP and ARPE19-mito-RFP cell lines

1. Cell culture
   NOTE: Only MSCs are used here as an example.
   1. Culture human MSCs in a 6-well plate in hMSC medium with 1% penicillin and streptomycin (see Table of Materials) until the cell density reaches 80%-90%. Depending on the density of cell growth, change the medium once every 2-3 days.
      1. Remove the original medium and wash the cells once with phosphate-buffered saline (DPBS) (see <.......

Discussion

Numerous studies have demonstrated that the phenomenon of TNT-mediated mitochondrial transfer is a prevalent physiological process in various types of tissue cells^10,11,12,13. Functional mitochondrial donation from MSCs to cells with mitochondrial dysfunction exhibits strong therapeutic potential^3,14,15

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
0.25% Trypsin-EDTA	Gibco	25200-056
4% paraformaldehyde	Solarbio	P1110
6-well plate	NEST	703001
15 mL centrifuge tube	BD Falcon	352097
24-well plate	NEST	702001
ARPE19 cells	ATCC	CRL-2302	Cell lines
Bovine serum albumin (BSA)	Beyotime	ST025
CellTrace violet	Invitrogen	C34557
Cover slide	NEST	801007
DMSO	sigma	D2650
DPBS	Gibco	C141905005BT
DMEM/F-12-GlutaMAX	Gibco	10565-042
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)	VivaCell	C04002-500
FluorSave Reagent	Millipore	345789
MSCs	Nuwacell	RC02003	Cell lines
ncMission	Shownin	RP02010
Pen Strep	Gibco	15140-122
pCT-Mito-GFP	SBI	CYTO102-PA-1	Plasmid; From  https://www.systembio.com/mitochondria-cyto-tracer-pct-mito-gfp-cmv
Puromycin	MCE	HY-B1743A
Pipette	Axygen	TF-1000-R-S
Phalloidin	Invitrogen	A22287
Triton X-100	Solarbio	T8200
Transwell plate	Corning	3470