The use of stem cells is part of a strategy for the treatment of a large number of diseases. However, the source of the original stem cells for use is extremely important and determines their therapeutic potential. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have proven their therapeutic effectiveness when used in a number of pathological models. However, it remains an open question whether the chronological age of the donor organism affects the effectiveness of the use of MSC. The asymmetric division of stem cells, the result of which is some residential stem cells acquiring a non-senile phenotype, means that stem cells possess an intrinsic ability to preserve juvenile characteristics, implying an absence or at least remarkable retardation of senescence in stem cells. To test whether residential MSC senesce, we evaluated the physiological changes in the MSC from old rats, with a further comparison of the neuroprotective properties of MSC from young and old animals in a model of traumatic brain injury. We found that, while the effect of administration of MSC on lesion volume was minimal, functional recovery was remarkable, with the highest effect assigned to fetal cells; the lowest effect was recorded for cells isolated from adult rats and postnatal cells, having intermediate potency. MSC from the young rats were characterized by a faster growth than adult MSC, correlating with levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). However, there were no differences in respiratory activity of MSC from young and old rats, but young cells showed much higher glucose utilization than old ones. Autophagy flux was almost the same in both types of cells, but there were remarkable ultrastructural differences in old and young cells.
Keywords: aging; glucose utilization; glycolysis; mesenchymal stromal cells; mitochondria; oxidative phosphorylation; proliferation; senescence; stem; therapy; traumatic brain injury.