Non-virally engineered human adipose mesenchymal stem cells produce BMP4, target brain tumors, and extend survival. (September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mangraviti, Antonella; Tzeng, Stephany Y.; Gullotti, David; Kozielski, Kristen L.; Kim, Jennifer E.; Seng, Michael; Abbadi, Sara; Schiapparelli, Paula; Sarabia-Estrada, Rachel; Vescovi, Angelo; Brem, Henry; Olivi, Alessandro; Tyler, Betty; Green, Jordan J.; Quinones-Hinojosa, Alfredo
• Is Part Of: Biomaterials. Volume 100(2016)
• Page Start: 53
• Page End: 66
• Publication Date: 2016-09
• Subjects: Brain cancer -- Adipose-derived stem cells -- Nanoparticles -- Gene delivery -- Tumor stem cells; NP nanoparticle -- hAMSC human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell -- PBAE poly(beta-amino ester) -- BMP4 bone morphogenic protein; Biomedical materials -- Periodicals; Biocompatible Materials -- Periodicals; Biomatériaux -- Périodiques; 610.28
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2016.05.025
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0142-9612

Abstract

Abstract: There is a need for enabling non-viral nanobiotechnology to allow safe and effective gene therapy and cell therapy, which can be utilized to treat devastating diseases such as brain cancer. Human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) display high anti-glioma tropism and represent a promising delivery vehicle for targeted brain tumor therapy. In this study, we demonstrate that non-viral, biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) can be used to engineer hAMSCs with higher efficacy (75% of cells) than leading commercially available reagents and high cell viability. To accomplish this, we engineered a poly(beta-amino ester) (PBAE) polymer structure to transfect hAMSCs with significantly higher efficacy than Lipofectamine™ 2000. We then assessed the ability of NP-engineered hAMSCs to deliver bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4), which has been shown to have a novel therapeutic effect by targeting human brain tumor initiating cells (BTIC), a source of cancer recurrence, in a human primary malignant glioma model. We demonstrated that hAMSCs genetically engineered with polymeric nanoparticles containing BMP4 plasmid DNA (BMP4/NP-hAMSCs) secrete BMP4 growth factor while maintaining their multipotency and preserving their migration and invasion capacities. We also showed that this approach can overcome a central challenge for brain therapeutics, overcoming the blood brain barrier, by demonstrating that NP-engineered hAMSCs can migrate to the brain and penetrate the brain tumor after both intranasal and systemic intravenous administration. Critically, athymic rats bearing human primary BTIC-derived tumors and treated intranasally with BMP4/NP-hAMSCs showed significantly improved survival compared to those treated with control GFP/NP-hAMCSs. This study demonstrates that synthetic polymeric nanoparticles are a safe and effective approach for stem cell-based cancer-targeting therapies.