Panoply™ Human BDNF Over-expressing Stable Cell Line

In this study, researchers investigated whether irradiated brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF)-overexpressing engineered human mesenchymal stem cells (BDNF-eMSCs) improve paracrine efficiency, thereby improving the therapeutic efficacy of unmodified mesenchymal stem cells (naïve MSCs) against severe hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury in neonatal rats. In vitro experiments demonstrated that irradiated BDNF-eMSCs exhibited a more than 10-fold increase in BDNF secretion and were over five times more potent than naïve MSCs in mitigating cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, and cell death induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation. In vivo studies showed that irradiated BDNF-eMSCs-but not naïve MSCs-significantly attenuated short-term brain injury scores, the long-term progression of cerebral infarction, apoptosis, astrogliosis, and inflammatory responses associated with severe neonatal HI, while also improving impaired performance in negative geotaxis and rotarod tests. Compared to naïve MSCs, irradiated BDNF-eMSCs demonstrated superior paracrine potency and enhanced therapeutic outcomes; these findings suggest that BDNF-transfected MSCs represent a promising novel therapeutic strategy for treating severe neonatal HI brain injury.

The genetically engineered BDNF-eMSCs exhibited a uniform spindle-shaped morphology indistinguishable from that of unmodified MSCs (Figure 1A); expressed MSC-specific markers such as CD44, CD73, CD90, and CD105, while lacking expression of CD34, CD11b, CD19, CD45, and human leukocyte antigen-DR (Figure 1B); demonstrated robust proliferative potential, maintaining linear population doubling levels over a culture period of up to 120 days (Figure 1C); and stably secreted human BDNF protein, a capability maintained through passage 20 (Figure 1D).

Figure 1. Characterization of BDNF- overexpressing engineered mesenchymal stem cells (eMSCs). (Ahn S Y, et al., 2021)