TUNNELING NANOTUBES: AN EMERGING INTERCELLULAR ROUTE FOR THE EXCHANGE OF COMPONENTS BETWEEN NEIGHBORING CELLS CHARACTERIZED IN MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS.

NERINA VILLALBA; VIVIANA SANCHEZ; LUCIANO FIORE; CARLOS LUZZANI; SANTIAGO MIRIUKA; RICARDO GELPI; ALBERTO BOVERIS; ALICIA BRUSCO; JUAN JOSÉ PODEROSO

Mar del Plata

Congreso; SAIC SAE SAFE 2016; 2016

SAIC

ntercellular communication is one of the most important events in cell population behavior. In the last decade, tunneling nanotubes T Ts have emerged as a ne ly discovered form of long distance intercellular connection. T Ts transfer molecules and organelles such as calcium ions, prions, viral and bacterial pathogens, small lysosomes and mitochondria bet een neighboring cells. e nd- ings suggest that the ability of mesenchymal stem cells SCs to alter tissue microenvironment via the secretion of soluble factors or transfer of their o n cellular components to neighboring cells may contribute signi cantly to tissue repair, although the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. n this or e present an extensive and detailed description of types, structure, components,dynamics and functionality of T Ts bridging neighboring human harton elly SCs SC using phase contrast, uorescence and electron microscopy, as ell as time lapse images. ur re- sults sho that T Ts either extend bet een t o neighboring cells or form a net or connecting various neighboring cells. n both cases, they exhibited a long rectilinear extension hose length ranged bet een and mm. T o different types of T Ts ereidenti ed one containing only actin lament cytos eleton Type , and the other ith both actin and tubulin laments Type II). In vivo time lapse imaging employing a mitochondrial mar er allo ed us to see mitochondria lining up and moving along T Ts at a velocity of . . mm/ min. As sho n by ultrastructural analysis, Type T Ts did not exceed nm diameter and had no organelles inside, hile Type T Ts had nm diameter and contained polyribosomes, rough endoplasmic reticulum, vesicles, mitochondria and lipid drops. Caveoles ere present on the cell surface of both types of T Ts. SCs have many advantages for implementation in regenerative medicine and T Ts in this cell type may constitute a suitable route.