STimulator of INterferon Genes (STING) primed intra-articular cellular therapy improves gait and histologic outcomes in a murine osteoarthritis model

We report here the histological, transcriptomic, and movement characteristics for mice who received nonactivated and activated MSC cellular therapy, post-operatively, in a surgically induced destabilization of the medial meniscus. Treatment with STING & TLR3 activated MSCs significantly improved histological, transcriptomic, and movement parameters in the mice – with TLR3-MSCs not achieving significant improvement in the movement parameters. These findings can provide an approach to cellular therapies for osteoarthritis and potentially a mechanism to adjust the treatment based upon the severity/duration of degeneration. This paper further adds functional information regarding STING-MSC, TLR3-MSC, and nonactivated MSCs cellular therapy and further supports studies and literature regarding their usage in the context of regenerative therapies and alleviation of burdensome osteoarthritic symptoms. Overall design: Studies were performed using 12-week-old male C57BL/6Nci mice (Charles River Laboratories, Wilmington, MA, USA). Mice (n=10 per group) were randomly assigned to receive surgery followed by either needle insertion alone, non-activated MSC, pIC-activated MSC (TLR3), or STING-activated MSC