Probing the Mesenchymal Stem Cell Aging through In silico Assessment of Extracellular Vesicle-mediated miRNAs

During mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) aging, a decrease in its proliferation and regenerative capacity occurs, which is implicated in human aging. The MSCs aging process is regulated by genetics, metabolism, the external environment, and various complex pathways.

The aging of MSCs during in vitro culture poses a major challenge for developing cell therapy aimed at combating human diseases and aging. To identify the contributing factors underlying MSCs aging, we obtained datasets of mRNA expression changes before and after aging from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and datasets of extracellular vesicles (EVs) microRNAs (miRNAs) expression changes (GSE153752, GSE195634, and GSE226464). We conducted an in-depth analysis to screen the correlation between EVs-miRNAs and MSCs aging.

Our analysis identified significant differences in the expression of hsa-miR-146a-5p, hsa-miR-432-5p, hsa-miR-7706, hsa-miR-409-3p, and hsa-miR-17-5p in EVs before and after MSCs aging. These differences arise from the post-MSCs aging activation of signaling pathways, such as FOXO and P53, which promote the expression of hsa-miR-146a-5p, hsa-miR-432-5p, hsa-miR-7706, hsa-miR-409-3p, and hsa-miR-17-5p.

Subsequently, these miRNAs are transported to EVs upon binding to the RNA-binding proteins A2BP1, SFRS2, MBNL1, EIF4B, and ACO1. This study used the correlation between MSCs aging and specific EVs-miRNAs to predict MSCs aging during the culture process.