Aims The cardioprotective effects of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiovascular progenitor cells (CPC) are largely mediated by the paracrine release of extracellular vesicles (EV). We aimed to assess the immunological behaviour of EV-CPC, which is a prerequisite for their clinical translation. Methods and results Flow cytometry demonstrated that EV-CPC expressed very low levels of immune relevant molecules including HLA Class I, CD80, CD274 (PD-L1), and CD275 (ICOS-L); and moderate levels of ligands of the natural killer (NK) cell activating receptor, NKG2D. In mixed lymphocyte reactions, EV-CPC neither induced nor modulated adaptive allogeneic T cell immune responses. They also failed to induce NK cell degranulation, even at high concentrations. These in vitro effects were confirmed in vivo as repeated injections of EV-CPC did not stimulate production of immunoglobulins or affect the interferon (IFN)-γ responses from primed splenocytes. In a mouse model of chronic heart failure, intra-myocardial injections of EV-CPC, 3 weeks after myocardial infarction, decreased both the number of cardiac pro-inflammatory Ly6Chigh monocytes and circulating levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1α, TNF-α, and IFN-γ). In a model of acute infarction, direct cardiac injection of EV-CPC 2 days after infarction reduced pro-inflammatory macrophages, Ly6Chigh monocytes, and neutrophils in heart tissue as compared to controls. EV-CPC also reduced levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1α, IL-2, and IL-6, and increased levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. These effects on human macrophages and monocytes were reproduced in vitro; EV-CPC reduced the number of pro-inflammatory monocytes and M1 macrophages, while increasing the number of anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages. Conclusions EV-CPC do not trigger an immune response either in in vitro human allogeneic models or in immunocompetent animal models. The capacity for orienting the response of monocyte/macrophages towards resolution of inflammation strengthens the clinical attractiveness of EV-CPC as an acellular therapy for cardiac repair.

The tumor suppressor BAP1 associates with ASXL1/2 to form the core Polycomb complex PR-DUB, which catalyzes the removal of mono-ubiquitin from several substrates including histone H2A. This complex also mediates the poly-deubiquitination of HCFC1, OGT and PCG1-α, preventing them from proteasomal degradation. Surprisingly, considering its role in a Polycomb complex, no transcriptional signature was consistently found among BAP1-inactivated tumor types. It was hypothesized that BAP1 tumor suppressor activity could reside, at least in part, in stabilizing proteins through its poly-deubiquitinase activity. Quantitative mass spectrometry and gene expression arrays were used to investigate the consequences of BAP1 expression modulation in the NCI-H226 mesothelioma cell line. Analysis of differentially expressed proteins revealed enrichment in cytoskeleton organization, mitochondrial activity and ROS management, while gene expression analysis revealed enrichment in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition pathway. Functional assessments in BAP1 inactivated, BAP1 wild-type and BAP1 catalytically dead-expressing NCI-H226 and QR mesothelioma cell lines confirmed alteration of these pathways and demonstrated that BAP1 deubiquitinase activity was mandatory to maintain these phenotypes. Interestingly, monitoring intracellular ROS levels partly restored the morphology and the mitochondrial activity. Finally, the study suggests new tumorigenic and cellular functions of BAP1 and shows for the first time the interest of studying the proteome as readout of BAP1 inactivation.