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. 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