Transcriptional profiles of hASCs cultured on RCP

Chronic tissue injury caused by localized radiotherapy alters the microenvironment including stem cell niches, and leads to wound healing inhibition. We precultured human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) on recombinant collagen peptide (RCP) scaffold, and the cells showed upregulation of cell proliferation genes and extracellular-matrix genes, compared with hASCs cultured on normal dish. Also, pathway analyses revealed hASC cultured on RCP had gene expression pattern of inflammatory suppression, cell growth promotion and activation of certain growth factors including VEGF, HGF and TGF-β1, suggesting biological activity of RCP scaffold. In chronic radiation mice models (a total of 20 Gy radiation 4 weeks in advance), treatment with hASCs and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) precultured on RCP achieved the best wound healing acceleration, compared with hASC on RCP group, RCP only group, and control group which showed better healing in this order. RCP scaffold, and combination use of hASCs and ECs, could be a safe, effective and practical therapeutic tool for a variety of stem cell-depleted conditions such as chronic postirradiation tissues. Human ASCs were cultured for 2 days on RCP scaffold or normal adhesive dish. Gene expression profiles of these two culture conditions were analyzed by microarray.