Alzheimer’s disease (AD) animal studies have reported that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have therapeutic effects; however, clinical trial results are controversial. Neprilysin (NEP) is the main cleavage enzyme of β-amyloid (Aβ), which plays a major role in the pathology and etiology of AD. We evaluated whether transplantation of MSCs with NEP gene modification enhances the therapeutic effects in an AD animal model and then investigated these pathomechanisms. We manufactured NEP gene-enhanced human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) and intravenously transplanted them in Aβ1-42-injected AD animal models. We compared the differences in behavioral tests and immunohistochemical assays between four groups: normal, Aβ1-42 injection, naïve hUC-MSCs, and NEP-enhanced hUC-MSCs. Both naïve and NEP-enhanced hUC-MSC groups showed significant improvements in memory compared to the Aβ1-42 injection group. There was no significant difference between naïve and NEP-enhanced hUC-MSC groups. There was a significant decrease in Congo red, BACE-1, GFAP, and Iba-1 and a significant increase in BDNF, NeuN, and NEP in both hUC-MSC groups compared to the Aβ1-42 injection group. Among them, BDNF, NeuN, GFAP, Iba-1, and NEP showed more significant changes in the NEP-enhanced hUC-MSC group than in the naïve group. After stem cell injection, stem cells were not found. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) were equally observed in the hippocampus in the naïve and NEP-enhanced hUC-MSC groups. However, the EVs of NEP-enhanced hUC-MSCs contained higher amounts of NEP as compared to the EVs of naïve hUC-MSCs. Thus, hUC-MSCs affect AD animal models through stem cell-released EVs. Although there was no significant difference in cognitive function between the hUC-MSC groups, NEP-enhanced hUC-MSCs had superior neurogenesis and anti-inflammation properties compared to naïve hUC-MSCs due to increased NEP in the hippocampus by enriched NEP-possessing EVs. NEP gene-modified MSCs that release an increased amount of NEP within EVs may be a promising therapeutic option in AD treatment.

Human adult stem cells have widely been examined for their clinical application including their wound healing effect in vivo. To function as therapeutic cells, however, cells must represent the ability of directed migration in response to signals. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-induced migration of the human abdominal adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) in vitro. A general matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor or a MMP2 inhibitor significantly inhibited the PDGF-induced migration. PDGF treatment exhibited greater mRNA level and denser protein level of MMP1. The conditioned medium of PDGF-treated cells showed a caseinolytic activity of MMP1. Transfection of cells with siRNA against MMP1 significantly inhibited MMP1 expression, its caseinolytic activity, and cell migration following PDGF treatment. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor reduced the migration by about 50% without affecting ERK and MLC proteins. Rho-associated protein kinase inhibitor mostly abolished the migration and MLC proteins. The results suggest that PDGF might signal hADSCs through PI3K, and MMP1 activity could play an important role in this PDGF-induced migration in vitro.