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Phenotype changes of oral epithelial stem cells after in vitro culture

Abstract

The aim of our study was to isolate populations of keratinocyte stem cells based on the expression of cell surface markers and to investigate whether the culture could affect their phenotype. keratinocytes from human oral mucosa were sorted based on the expression of the epithelial stem cell markers p75NTR and CD71. We also examined the co-expression of other epithelial stem markers such as integrins β1 and α6 and their stem cell-like proprieties in in vitro assays. Three passages after being sorted by MACS, more than 93% of the p75NTR+ve cells lost the expression of p75NTR, while 5.46% of the p75NTR-ve gained it. Within the small population of the p75NTR+ve cells, 88% co-expressed other epithelial stem cell markers such as integrins β1 and α6, while only 28% of p75NTR-ve cells co-expressed these markers. These results were confirmed by sorting cells by FACS. Additionally, when double staining was used for sorting cells, 99% of the p75NTR+veCD71-ve and 33% of the p75NTR-veCD71+ve cells expressed both integrins, but just one week after culture, only 1.74% of the p75NTR+veCD71-ve cells still expressed p75NTR and only 0.32% still expressed CD71. Similar results were obtained when co-culturing p75NTR+ve and p75NTR-ve populations before analysis. Our results suggest that phenotype changes may be part of an intrinsic cellular mechanism to conserve levels of protein expression as they may found in the human body. In addition, in vitro culture may not offer ideal conditions for epithelial stem cell maintenance due to phenotype changes under standard culture conditions.

Stem Cells; Mouth Mucosa

Introduction

Isolation of progenitor epithelial cells has been proposed by using many different techniques such as the capacity of rapidly adherence to collagen IV,11. Igarashi T, Shimmura S, Yoshida S, Tonogi M, Shinozaki N, Yamane G. Isolation of oral epithelial progenitors using collagen IV. Oral Dis. 2008;14:413-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1601-0825.2007.01390.x
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the morphology of the colonies22. Barrandon Y, Green H. Three clonal types of keratinocyte with different capacities for multiplication. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1987 Apr;84(8):2302-6. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.84.8.2302 PMID:2436229
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or the ability to efflux Hoechst 33342 (side population).33. Terunuma A, Jackson KL, Kapoor V, Telford WG, Vogel JC. Side population keratinocytes resembling bone marrow side population stem cells are distinct from label-retaining keratinocyte stem cells. J Invest Dermatol. 2003 Nov;121(5):1095-103. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1747.2003.12531.x PMID:14708612
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,44. Redvers RP, Li A, Kaur P. Side population in adult murine epidermis exhibits phenotypic and functional characteristics of keratinocyte stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2006 Aug;103(35):13168-73. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0602579103 PMID:16920793
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Likewise, a variety of cell markers for isolating progenitor epithelial cells either by using Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting (MACS)55. Nakamura T, Endo K, Kinoshita S. Identification of human oral keratinocyte stem/progenitor cells by neurotrophin receptor p75 and the role of neurotrophin/p75 signaling. Stem Cells. 2007 Mar;25(3):628-38. https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0494 PMID:17110619
https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0...
or by Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) have been described.66. Nowak JA, Fuchs E. Isolation and culture of epithelial stem cells. In: Audet J, Stanford WL, eds. Stem cells in regenerative medicine. New York: Humana Press, 2009. p. 215-32. (Methods in molecular biology, v 482).

The p75NTR is member of the TNF receptor superfamily,77. Rodríguez-Tébar A, Dechant G, Götz R, Barde YA. Binding of neurotrophin-3 to its neuronal receptors and interactions with nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. EMBO J. 1992 Mar;11(3):917-22. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1460-2075.1992.tb05130.x
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and it`s has been suggested as a potential epithelial stem cell marker in different tissues and organs including esophagus,88. Okumura T, Shimada Y, Imamura M, Yasumoto S. Neurotrophin receptor p75(NTR) characterizes human esophageal keratinocyte stem cells in vitro. Oncogene. 2003 Jun;22(26):4017-26. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1206525
https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1206525...
uterine cervix,99. Kunimura C, Kikuchi K, Ahmed N, Shimizu A, Yasumoto S. Telomerase activity in a specific cell subset co-expressing integrinbeta1/EGFR but not p75NGFR/bcl2/integrin beta4 in normal human epithelial cells. Oncogene. 1998 Jul;17(2):187-97. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1201916
https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1201916...
epithelial odontogenic tumours1010. Silva FP, Dias A, Coelho CA, Guerra EN, Marques AE, Decurcio DA, et al. Expression of CD90 and P75NTR stem cell markers in ameloblastomas: a possible role in their biological behavior. Braz Oral Res. 2016 Oct;30(1):e109. https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-3107BOR-2016.vol30.0109
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and oral mucosa.55. Nakamura T, Endo K, Kinoshita S. Identification of human oral keratinocyte stem/progenitor cells by neurotrophin receptor p75 and the role of neurotrophin/p75 signaling. Stem Cells. 2007 Mar;25(3):628-38. https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0494 PMID:17110619
https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0...
The expression of integrins β11111. Jones PH, Watt FM. Separation of human epidermal stem cells from transit amplifying cells on the basis of differences in integrin function and expression. Cell. 1993 May;73(4):713-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(93)90251-K
https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(93)902...
and α61212. Kaur P, Li A. Adhesive properties of human basal epidermal cells: an analysis of keratinocyte stem cells, transit amplifying cells, and postmitotic differentiating cells. J Invest Dermatol. 2000 Mar;114(3):413-20. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1747.2000.00884.x
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1747.2000...
and the absence of expression of CD711313. Tani H, Morris RJ, Kaur P. Enrichment for murine keratinocyte stem cells based on cell surface phenotype. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2000 Sep;97(20):10960-5. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.20.10960
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.20.10960...
have also been shown to be useful for identifying epithelial progenitor cells.

Here we isolated different populations of keratinocytes by MACS and FACS based on the expression of the epithelial stem cell markers P75NTR and CD71, respectively. We also analyzed the expression of these and other epithelial stem cells markers in the positive and negative populations. To assess the stem cell proprieties, we performed functional assays such as long-term growth potential, determination of the colony-forming efficiency and in vitro epithelial reconstruction.

Cell culture is a gold standard technique used to expand cells (including stem cells) prior to in vitro experiments or in vivo use. However, the literature is controversial in relation to whether culture conditions could affect cells phenotype1414. Ratajczak MZ. Phenotypic and functional characterization of hematopoietic stem cells. Curr Opin Hematol. 2008 Jul;15(4):293-300. https://doi.org/10.1097/MOH.0b013e328302c7ca
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,1515. Pessina A, Gribaldo L. The key role of adult stem cells: therapeutic perspectives. Curr Med Res Opin. 2006 Nov;22(11):2287-300. https://doi.org/10.1185/030079906X148517
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and there is no evidence that epithelial stem cells do not change after sorting.55. Nakamura T, Endo K, Kinoshita S. Identification of human oral keratinocyte stem/progenitor cells by neurotrophin receptor p75 and the role of neurotrophin/p75 signaling. Stem Cells. 2007 Mar;25(3):628-38. https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0494 PMID:17110619
https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0...
Also, it’s been recognized that cells double staining is more efficient than single staining to enrich a cell population with stem cells1313. Tani H, Morris RJ, Kaur P. Enrichment for murine keratinocyte stem cells based on cell surface phenotype. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2000 Sep;97(20):10960-5. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.20.10960
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.20.10960...
but nothing is known about whether double staining would result in maintenance of stem cell phenotype under standard culture conditions.

Additionally, there is a lack of information whether cell sorting technics (FACS vs MACS) themselves or if the time that cells stay in culture could have any influence on either the phenotype maintenance or on their functional properties. Therefore, we have analyzed if the cell sorting technic and cell culture period could affect either the phenotype of our sorted populations or their functional properties.

Methodology

Tissues

Specimens were obtained in accordance with the Ethical Committee of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and King`s College London, United Kingdom. All donors were informed about the procedure and provided consent for biopsy and cells harvest. Samples were obtained from healthy oral mucosa (gingiva and palate) from 22-35 years old patients undergoing to oral surgeries for clinical reasons. From those samples, two different keratinocyte stem cell lines named KSC-I and KSC-II were stablished. Both cell lines were used for functional assays (long-term growth potential, colony-forming efficiency and in vitro epithelial reconstruction). Only KSC-II was used for experiments involving cell sorting due to higher yield and thus resulting in a better cell density necessary for those experiments. All experiments were done in triplicates.

Primary culture of keratinocytes

Oral tissues were washed 3x in PBS and incubated in 2.5mg/ml of dispase (Gibco #17105-041) at 4oC for 12-16h. The epithelium was then mechanically separated from the underlying mesenchyme with tweezers and digested with TrypLETM (Gibco, #12563) at 37oC. Cells were immediately labelled with anti-p75NTR antibody and sorted ether by MACS or FACS. After sorting, cells were plated on the top of a feeder layer composed by irradiated 3T3-J2fibroblasts as previously described on the literature1616. Rheinwald JG, Green H. Serial cultivation of strains of human epidermal keratinocytes: the formation of keratinizing colonies from single cells. Cell. 1975 Nov;6(3):331-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(75)80001-8
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(75)80...
. Keratinocytes were cultured in DMEM (Lonza, #12-604) with 30% of Ham’s F-12 Nutrient (LifeTechnologies, #11765070), 10% of Fetal Bovine Serum (Hyclone, #SH30109.03), 1% of antibiotics (Gibco, #15240), 0.18mM of adenine (SIGMA, #A9795), 5µg/mL of insulin (SIGMA, #A9795), 0.4 µg/mL of hydrocortisone (SIGMA, #H0396), 0.1 nM of cholera toxin (SIGMA, #C8052), 20pM of triiodotironin (SIGMA, #058K8704), 10ng/mL of EGF and 1% of HEPES buffer (Gibco, #15630). When cells reached 80% of confluence, they were removed from the flask with TrypLETM and serially plated at a density of 6x103 cell/cm2 on a freshly made monolayer of irradiated 3T3-J2 fibroblasts.

Magnetic cell sorting

Freshly dissociated human oral keratinocytes were passed thought a 40µm filter and labelled with 20 µL of p75NTR MicroBead Kit (Miltenyi Biotec #130-092-283) per 107 total cells following manufacturer’s instructions. Cells were sorted by MS Columns (Miltenyi Biotec #130-042-201) in the MiniMACSTM separator system (Miltenyi Biotec #130-042-102). After been sorted, the p75NTRve and p75NTR-ve cells were plated at the same density and cultured separately under same conditions.

Cell sorting by flow cytometry

Once obtained single cells suspension by passing the cells thought a 40µm filter, they were re-suspended in 2% FBS in PBS and incubated at 4oC for 15 minutes with PE-conjugated human anti-p75NTR antibody (Biolegend, #345105) using 10µl of antibody per 106 cells. After a PBS wash, cells were sorted using the BD Bioscience FACSAria.

Flow cytometry analysis

A single cells suspension was obtained as described above and then the cells were incubated with APC anti-human CD71 (eBioscience, #17-0719); PE-Cy7 anti-human Integrin α6 (eBioscience, #25-0495) and FITC anti-human Integrin β1 (eBioscience, #11-0299) using 10µl of antibody per 106 cells, for 15 min at 4oC. Flow cytometry analysis was performed using the FACSCanto (BD Bioscience) and FlowJo 8.7 software (Tree Star Inc.; Ashland, OR). Dead cells and debris were identified using the gating strategy based on forward (FSC) and side scatter (SSC) (FSC-low and SSC-high). Single positive staining for each marker and unstained controls were used to establish compensation settings on the FACS. Each one of these setting samples provided a single parameter histogram from each it was possible to determine the ideal parameters of laser voltages and gating to identify both positive and negative populations for each staining.

Long-term growth potential

The long-term growth potential was assessed in both fractions of cells after been sorted either by MACS or by FACS. These populations were serially passaged at the density of 6x103 cells/cm2 until cells lost their proliferative capacity.

Determination of the colony-forming efficiency

After sorting, cells were expanded up to the third passage and plated in triplicate, in low density (1.5 cells/cm2), to evaluate their colony-forming efficiency. On the 6th day of culture the colonies were fixed with methanol at -20oC for 10 min, stained with toluidine blue and counted. All colonies with 50 or more cells were scored and an average number of colonies were obtained. The number of colonies on the p75NTRveand p75NTR-vepopulations were analyzed independently using the t-Test on the SPSS v.25 software. Values were considered significant when p-value < 0.05

In vitro epithelial reconstruction

At the third passage, cells from both fractions of P75NTR (positives and negatives) were plated in triplicates, in six-well plates, and allowed to grow for 3 days more after they reached confluence. The epitheliums were removed from the wells using dispase diluted in DMEM (2.5 mg/ml), for 1h at 37oC. After 1h fixation in 4% formaldehyde, tissues were histologically processed for paraffin embedding and sectioned on microtome. The samples were stained with haematoxylin & eosin and analyzed under optical microscope.

Results

Characterization of keratinocytes sorted by MACS

Three passages after cell sorting by MACS both p75NTRve and p75NTR-ve populations were analyzed by FACS. At this moment it was possible to observe that just 6.93% of the population p75NTRve retained the expression of p75NTR (Figure 1A) while a similar percentage of cells (5.46%) gained the expression of p75NTR in the negative population (Figure 1B).

Figure 1
Characterization of keratinocytes sorted by MACS three passages after sorting. (A) Amount of cells that remain p75NTR+ve on a population originally p75NTR+ve .(B) Amount of cells that become p75NTR+ve on a population originally p75NTR-ve.

When the co-expression of other epithelial stem cells markers (Integrin β1 and α6) was studied on the same passages of the p75NTR-veand p75NTR-ve populations, it was possible to observe that 88% of the p75NTRvecells were co-expressing both integrins in contrast with just 28% of p75NTR-ve cells. Moreover, 6% of the cells were p75NTRveCD71-ve and from this population 99% were expressing both integrins β1 and α6. Meanwhile, 33% of the cells were p75NTR-veCD71veand of this population just 56% expressed both integrins.

Characterization of keratinocytes sorted by FACS

Based on the results described above and considering that the double staining could be useful for selecting a population expressing other useful stem cells markers, oral keratinocytes were harvested, sorted by FACS and plated separately at the same density, as population of p75NTRve and p75NTR-ve(group I), and populations of p75NTRveCD71-ve and p75NTR-veCD71ve(group II). After 1 week in culture, cells reached semi-confluence and then were reanalyzed by FACS. Among the p75NTRve cells, just 7.48% remained p75NTRve while 11.9% of the p75NTR-vebecame positive. Under the same conditions of analysis, just 1.74% of the cells were still expressing p75NTR on the population of p75NTRveCD71-ve and 0.32% were expressing CD71 (Figure 2A). Once again, a significant percentage of the cells of the p75NTR-veCD71vepopulation (6.72 %) gained the expression of p75NTRT while just 0.4% were still expressing CD71 (Figure 2B).

Figure 2
Characterization of keratinocytes sorted by FACS after only 1 week in culture. (A) Percentage of cells expressing p75NTR and CD71 among the population of cells that were originally p75NTR+veCD71-ve. (B) Percentage of cells expressing p75NTR and CD71 in the population of cells that were originally p75NTR-veCD71+ve.

The expression of p75NTR was also assessed in freshly dissociated oral keratinocytes, without prior culture and an average of 1.4% of the cells were expressing p75NTR.

In order to consider whether co-culturing p75NTRveand p75NTR-vecould maintain a higher number of p75NTRve cells, fresh oral keratinocytes were sorted by FACS based on the expression of p75NTR and the negative cells were stained with Cell TraceTM Violet Cell Proliferation Kit (Molecular Probes, #C34557 and seeded in triplicate onto 6-well plates as (I) p75NTRves, (II) p75NTR-vesand (III) 50% p75NTRvesand 50% p75NTR-ves, respecting the same densities and culture conditions used before. Four days later, the cells were removed from the plate and re-analyzed by FACS. As a result, we noticed that even co-culturing p75NTRvesand p75NTR-ves (group III) for a short period of time, more than 90% of the p75NTRves cells lost the expression of the stem cell marker (Figure 3A). For the groups that were cultured separately (groups I and II), the loss of expression was even higher. Less than 0.6% of the p75NTRves retained the expression of p75NTR (Figure 3B). On the other hand, almost 1% of the cells gained the expression of p75NTR on the p75NTR-ves population (Figure 3C). Unstained and stained compensation controls were used as parameters.

Figure 3
Expression of p75NTR in co-culture of p75NTR+ve and p75NTR-ve cells (marked with Cell TraceTM). (A) Most of the original positive population became negative and some cells of the original negative population turned out expressing p75NTR after 4 days in co-culture. (B) Histogram reveling that 0.95% of the cells originally p75NTR-ves become p75NTR-ves even after been cultivated separately from the p75NTR+ve population. (C) Similarly, a percentage of cells (0.56%) originally expressing p75NTR lost the expression of this marker after the same period of time.

Functional assays

Long-term growth potential

Long-term growth potential was evaluated in both p75NTRve and p75NTR-ve cells sorted by MACS and FACS and on the p75NTRveCD71-veand p75NTR-veCD71ve sorted by FACS, in both studied cell lineages (KSC-I and KSC-II). No significant difference in the proliferative capacity was observed between positive and negative populations. Both p75TRve and p75NTR-vecounterparts were completely senescent on the 13th and 14thpassages, on the KSC-I and KSC-II cell lineages, respectively. Furthermore, when cells were sorted by FACS using double staining (p75NTRveCD71-veand p75NTR-veCD71ve), they were senescent just 2 or 3 passages after sorting.

Colony-forming efficiency and in vitro epithelial reconstruction

After being sorted as p75NTRve and p75NTR-ve, cells were expanded up to the third passage and plated at low density, fixed and stained as previously described (Figure 4A and B). The number of colonies from the p75NTRve population was 1.6 and 5.97-fold higher than from p75NTR-ve, on both the KSC-I and KSC-II lineages (Figure 4C) and statically significant on the KSC-II (p=0.001). The p75NTRve cells were found to be capable of forming more organized and thicker stratified epithelium in vitro (Figure 4D and E).

Figure 4
Colony-forming efficiency and in vitro epithelial reconstruction. (A) Morphology of the colonies of the p75NTR+ve cells and (B) p75NTR-ve cells. (C) Average number of colonies formed by the p75NTR+ve compared with the number of colonies formed by the p75NTR-ve in two different cell lineages (KSC-I and KSC-II). (*) Represents statically significant difference (D) In vitro-formed stratified epithelium by p75NTR+ve cells. (E) In vitro-formed stratified epithelium by p75NTR-ve cells.

It was not possible to perform the same experiments with the p75NTRveCD71-veor p75NTRveCD71-vebecause, as mentioned before, the cells did not survive more than 2 or 3 passages after been sorted which means that we did not have sufficient cells to perform the experiment.

Discussion

Keratinocytes from oral mucosa have been successfully used for many proposes, including reconstruction of the oral epithelium after tumor resection1717. Lauer G, Schimming R. Tissue-engineered mucosa graft for reconstruction of the intraoral lining after freeing of the tongue: a clinical and immunohistologic study. J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2001 Feb;59(2):169-75. https://doi.org/10.1053/joms.2001.20489
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and oral implants,1818. Tsai CY, Ueda M, Hata K, Horie K, Hibino Y, Sugimura Y, et al. Clinical results of cultured epithelial cell grafting in the oral and maxillofacial region. J Craniomaxillofac Surg. 1997 Feb;25(1):4-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1010-5182(97)80017-0
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for the prevention of stenosis after endoscopic mucosal resection,1919. Sakurai T, Miyazaki S, Miyata G, Satomi S, Hori Y. Autologous buccal keratinocyte implantation for the prevention of stenosis after EMR of the esophagus. Gastrointest Endosc. 2007 Jul;66(1):167-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gie.2006.12.062 PMID:17591493
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for re-epithelialization of the corneal surfaces in patients with total limbal stem-cell deficiency,2020. Nishida K, Yamato M, Hayashida Y, Watanabe K, Yamamoto K, Adachi E, et al. Corneal reconstruction with tissue-engineered cell sheets composed of autologous oral mucosal epithelium. N Engl J Med. 2004 Sep;351(12):1187-96. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa040455
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reconstruction of urethra,2121. Sauerbier S, Gutwald R, Wiedmann-Al-Ahmad M, Lauer G, Schmelzeisen R. Clinical application of tissue-engineered transplants. Part I: mucosa. Clin Oral Implants Res. 2006 Dec;17(6):625-32. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0501.2006.01229.x
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regeneration of skin,2222. Iida T, Takami Y, Yamaguchi R, Shimazaki S, Harii K. Development of a tissue-engineered human oral mucosa equivalent based on an acellular allogeneic dermal matrix: a preliminary report of clinical application to burn wounds. Scand J Plast Reconstr Surg Hand Surg. 2005;39(3):138-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/0284431051006376
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dental tissue engineering2323. Nakagawa E, Itoh T, Yoshie H, Satokata I. Odontogenic potential of post-natal oral mucosal epithelium. J Dent Res. 2009 Mar;88(3):219-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022034509333198
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and creation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS).2424. Aasen T, Raya A, Barrero MJ, Garreta E, Consiglio A, Gonzalez F, et al. Efficient and rapid generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from human keratinocytes. Nat Biotechnol. 2008 Nov;26(11):1276-84. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.1503
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Numerous studies have reported the isolation of stem/progenitor cells from keratinocytes. In most cases, the cell sorting is based on the expression of cell surface markers55. Nakamura T, Endo K, Kinoshita S. Identification of human oral keratinocyte stem/progenitor cells by neurotrophin receptor p75 and the role of neurotrophin/p75 signaling. Stem Cells. 2007 Mar;25(3):628-38. https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0494 PMID:17110619
https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0...
,88. Okumura T, Shimada Y, Imamura M, Yasumoto S. Neurotrophin receptor p75(NTR) characterizes human esophageal keratinocyte stem cells in vitro. Oncogene. 2003 Jun;22(26):4017-26. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1206525
https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1206525...
,1111. Jones PH, Watt FM. Separation of human epidermal stem cells from transit amplifying cells on the basis of differences in integrin function and expression. Cell. 1993 May;73(4):713-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(93)90251-K
https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(93)902...
,2525. Jones PH, Harper S, Watt FM. Stem cell patterning and fate in human epidermis. Cell. 1995 Jan;80(1):83-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(95)90453-0
https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(95)904...
,2626. Li A, Simmons PJ, Kaur P. Identification and isolation of candidate human keratinocyte stem cells based on cell surface phenotype. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1998 Mar;95(7):3902-7. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.7.3902
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.7.3902...
and the stem cell-like proprieties are assessed by in vitro assays. What is not common is the analyses of expression of these cell markers at different time points, following sorting and culture.

We observed that despite of the p75NTRves cells have higher colony-forming efficiency and better in vitro stratified epithelium reconstruction capacity as reported by Nakamura et al. 2007, they didn’t survive for longer periods than the negative ones. This could mean that these cells were not capable of self-renewal and proliferate for longer periods as expected from a stem cell population or that the p75NTR population might not be maintained in culture conditions. With this in mind, we proceeded with analysis of the sorted populations after culturing.

The p75NTRve population had a higher number of cells co-expressing other epithelial stem cells markers, such as integrins β12525. Jones PH, Harper S, Watt FM. Stem cell patterning and fate in human epidermis. Cell. 1995 Jan;80(1):83-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(95)90453-0
https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(95)904...
and α61313. Tani H, Morris RJ, Kaur P. Enrichment for murine keratinocyte stem cells based on cell surface phenotype. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2000 Sep;97(20):10960-5. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.20.10960
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.20.10960...
than the negative one (88% against 28%). Furthermore, when we used a second marker (CD71), we could obtain a purer population (99% of the p75NTRveCD71-vewhere both integrins β1 and α6 positive). However, this population had the worst performance in the in vitro assays when compared with the single stained ones (p75NTRveonly). The explanation could lie in the culture procedure as this purer population could face difficulties to maintain their numbers due to low densities after sorting.

The p75NTRveCD71-ve cells were 99% positive for stem cells markers described in the literature, but only survived for 2 or 3 passages after sorting, implying that a sorted keratinocyte stem cell phenotype does not guarantee a stem cell behavior in vitro.

We further observed that independently of the cell sorting technic used (MACS or FACS) and for how long the cells have been cultured (3 passages, one week or only 4 days) they changed their phenotype dramatically: the positive population lost the expression of their markers and the negative one, gained them. These lead us to assume that positive and the negative populations may need each other and possibly there is an intrinsic mechanism that controls and balances the protein expressions such as the one seen in the human body. This suggests that the use of freshly sorted cells (without further culture) or even unsorted cells could offer better results. This hypothesis needs further investigation.

Our findings showing the numbers of positive and negative cells and that the p75NTRvepopulation showed better functional properties when compared with negative cells in fresh oral keratinocytes are consistent with previously published results55. Nakamura T, Endo K, Kinoshita S. Identification of human oral keratinocyte stem/progenitor cells by neurotrophin receptor p75 and the role of neurotrophin/p75 signaling. Stem Cells. 2007 Mar;25(3):628-38. https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0494 PMID:17110619
https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0...
,99. Kunimura C, Kikuchi K, Ahmed N, Shimizu A, Yasumoto S. Telomerase activity in a specific cell subset co-expressing integrinbeta1/EGFR but not p75NGFR/bcl2/integrin beta4 in normal human epithelial cells. Oncogene. 1998 Jul;17(2):187-97. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1201916
https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1201916...
. Nakamura et al (2007) also analyzed the expression of p75NTR in human cells from fresh oral mucosa and described that 7.35 ± 3.41% of the total keratinocytes expressed p75NTR55. Nakamura T, Endo K, Kinoshita S. Identification of human oral keratinocyte stem/progenitor cells by neurotrophin receptor p75 and the role of neurotrophin/p75 signaling. Stem Cells. 2007 Mar;25(3):628-38. https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0494 PMID:17110619
https://doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2006-0...
. In a similar way, Kunimura et al.99. Kunimura C, Kikuchi K, Ahmed N, Shimizu A, Yasumoto S. Telomerase activity in a specific cell subset co-expressing integrinbeta1/EGFR but not p75NGFR/bcl2/integrin beta4 in normal human epithelial cells. Oncogene. 1998 Jul;17(2):187-97. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1201916
https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1201916...
described that 1.5% of their population was p75NTRve and had very little telomerase activity. Although these authors also described a gain of function in terms of functional assays, none of them checked the cell’s phenotype after sorting and culturing.

Finally, considering that the p75NTR positive population may need the negative population, we investigated whether co-culturing p75NTR-ve cells with positive cells would help both populations maintain their phenotype. However, this approach proved to be inefficient as after only four days in culture, almost 95% of the positive cells lost the expression of p75NTR, while 0.22% of the negative gained it.

Our findings suggest that in vitro culture may not offer ideal conditions for epithelial stem cell phenotype maintenance as it results in changes in the sorted populations in an attempt to establish or maintain a balance between different populations. The phenotypic changes may be part of an intrinsic cellular mechanism in an effort to re-stabilize the levels of protein expression in the same proportions found in the human body.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Adam Laing for his assistance and advise about the Flow Cytometry experiments, Dr. Oswald Keith Okamoto for his scientific advises and Dr. Maria Cristina Zindel Deboni for clinical support. The work done in Brazil was supported by FAPESP (process number 2008/11641-9) and in UK by the MRC, NIHR GSTT/KCL Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre, Guy’s & St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) foundation (process number 2586-11-8).

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    06 Apr 2020
  • Date of issue
    2020

History

  • Received
    26 Feb 2019
  • Accepted
    28 Feb 2020
  • Reviewed
    12 Mar 2020
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