THE EFFECT OF BASIC FIBROBLAST GROWTH FACTOR AND HYPOXIC PRE-CONDITIONING ON CHEMOKINE RECEPTOR TYPE 4 AND STROMAL CELL-DERIVED FACTOR 1 EXPRESSION AS TARGETS FOR HOMING ENHANCEMENT OF CANINE ADIPOSE TISSUE-DERIVED MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) have the ability to home and migrate towards injured and inflamed tissues which can be useful as a minimally invasive systemic approach to deliver MSC to the site of damaged articular surface in arthritis in human and veterinary patients. From a molecular point of view, the CXCR4/SDF-1 plays an important role in this phenomenon and can be used as a target to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of culture expanded MSC. It has been demonstrated that extensive in vitro expansion down-regulates CXCR4 expression in human, murine and canine MSCs hindering their therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the effect of hypoxia and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) pre-conditioning on CXCR4 and SDF-1 expression in canine adipose derived MSC (cAT-MSC). MSC were isolated from subcutaneous adipose tissue of two adult Beagle dogs (n=2; 3–5 years old, 9–12kg) and cultured under standard conditions (5%CO2, 37°C). Cells at passage 3 were then cultured...