Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell-Mediated Mitochondrial Transfer and the Therapeutic Potential in Treatment of Neurological Diseases

Figure 1

MSC-mediated mitochondrial transfer impacts cellular metabolism and differentiation. (a) Mitochondrial dynamics maintains a healthy mitochondria network in MSCs via regulating mitochondrial fusion, fission, and mitophagy. Activation of HIF1α under a hypoxic condition suppresses PGC1-α expression, leading to inhibition of mitochondrial biogenesis and the stimulation of anaerobic glycolysis. (b) The change of mitochondrial dynamics contributes to MSC differentiation and proliferation. Mitochondrial transfer may exert similar effects. (c) Somatic cell-derived damaged mitochondria are transferred and degraded in MSCs via autophagy to initiate the rescue processes; the engulfed mitochondria in MSCs lead to the upregulation of HO-1, which enhances the mitochondrial transfer capacity. (d) Mitochondrial transfer affects immune cell functions and differentiation. For example, mitochondrial transfer can suppress inflammation by promoting transition of macrophages to a M2 phenotype or inducing Treg cell differentiation.