The study of cells in horses encompasses the examination of various cell types and their functions within the equine body. Cells are the basic structural and functional units of life, and in horses, they contribute to numerous physiological processes, including growth, repair, and immune responses. Different cell types, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, and muscle cells, each perform specific roles that are vital for maintaining the health and homeostasis of the horse. This topic includes research on cellular mechanisms, cellular responses to disease or injury, and the application of cellular biology in equine medicine. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the structure, function, and significance of cells in equine biology and health.
Testicular degeneration (TD) is the most frequent cause of sub or infertility in stallions. Currently, mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been studied as a therapeutic option for several diseases including induced-TD in laboratory animals. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of intratesticular MSC therapy on the testicular histology of stallions submitted to scrotal heat stress. Ten healthy Miniature-horse stallions were submitted to testicular heat stress induced by a heating wrap device (42-45°C). Afterward, the stallions were divided into two groups and treated seven days lat...
Zamith Cunha R, Semprini A, Salamanca G, Gobbo F, Morini M, Pickles KJ, Roberts V, Chiocchetti R.Cannabinoid receptors are expressed in human and animal trigeminal sensory neurons; however, the expression in the equine trigeminal ganglion is unknown. Ten trigeminal ganglia from five horses were collected post-mortem from an abattoir. The expression of cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1R) and type 2 (CB2R), and the cannabinoid-related receptors like transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARɣ), and G protein-related receptor 55 (GPR55) in the trigeminal ganglia (TG) of the horse were studied, using immunofluorescence on cry...
Armando F, Porcellato I, de Paolis L, Mecocci S, Passeri B, Ciurkiewicz M, Mechelli L, Grazia De Ciucis C, Pezzolato M, Fruscione F, Brachelente C....Vulvo-vaginal epithelial tumors are uncommon in mares, and data on the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the tumor-immune microenvironment (TIME) are still lacking. This is a study investigating the equus caballus papillomavirus type 2 (EcPV2) infection state as well as the EMT process and the tumor microenvironment in vulvo-vaginal preneoplastic/ benign (8/22) or malignant (14/22) epithelial lesions in mares. To do this, histopathological, immunohistochemical, transcriptomic, hybridization, and correlation analyses were carried out. Immunohistochemistry quantification showed tha...
Cappelli K, Mecocci S, Porceddu A, Albertini E, Giontella A, Miglio A, Silvestrelli M, Verini Supplizi A, Marconi G, Capomaccio S.With his bicentennial breeding history based on athletic performance, the Thoroughbred horse can be considered the equine sport breed. Although genomic and transcriptomic tools and knowledge are at the state of the art in equine species, the epigenome and its modifications in response to environmental stimuli, such as training, are less studied. One of the major epigenetic modifications is cytosine methylation at 5' of DNA molecules. This crucial biochemical modification directly mediates biological processes and, to some extent, determines the organisms' phenotypic plasticity. Exercise indeed...
Dąbrowska I, Grzędzicka J, Niedzielska A, Witkowska-Piłaszewicz O.Green coffee extract is currently of great interest to researchers due to its high concentration of chlorogenic acid (CGA) and its potential health benefits. CGA constitutes 6 to 10% of the dry weight of the extract and, due to its anti-inflammatory properties, is a promising natural supplement and agent with therapeutic applications. The purpose of our study was to discover the effects of CGA on peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation, and the production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines as well as reactive oxidative species (ROS) in horses during exercise. According to the find...
Lessiak U, Pratscher B, Tichy A, Nell B.Anti-VEGF agents were found to have clinical implications for the successful treatment of vascular-driven diseases in humans. In this study, a detailed biological characterization of bevacizumab in a variety of in vitro assays was carried out to determine the effect of bevacizumab on equine umbilical vein endothelial cells (EqUVEC). EqUVECs were harvested from umbilical cords of clinically healthy horses and exposed to different concentrations (1, 2, 4, 6, 8 mg/mL) of bevacizumab (Avastin). Assays concerning the drug's safety (cell viability and proliferation assay) and efficacy (cell tube for...
Burk J, Wittenberg-Voges L, Schubert S, Horstmeier C, Brehm W, Geburek F.The treatment of tendinopathies with multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) is a promising option in equine and human medicine. However, conclusive clinical evidence is lacking. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into clinical treatment efficacy and to identify suitable outcome measures for larger clinical studies. Fifteen horses with early naturally occurring tendon disease were assigned to intralesional treatment with allogeneic adipose-derived MSCs suspended in serum or with serum alone through block randomization (dosage adapted to lesion size). Clinicians and horse owners...
Fitzgerald DM, Cash CM, Dudley KJ, Sibthorpe PEM, Sillence MN, de Laat MA.Active glucagon-like peptide-1 (aGLP-1) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of equine insulin dysregulation (ID), but its role is unclear. Cleavage of proglucagon (coded by the GCG gene) produces aGLP-1 in enteral L cells. Objective: The aim in vivo was to examine the sequence of the exons of GCG in horses with and without ID, where aGLP-1 was higher in the group with ID. The aims in vitro were to identify and quantify the expression of GCG in the equine intestine (as a marker of L cells) and determine intestinal secretion of aGLP-1. Methods: Genomic studies were case-control studies. Expr...
Carlier S, Depuydt E, Suls M, Bocqué C, Thys J, Vandenberghe A, Martens A, Saunders J, Hellmann K, Braun G, Beerts C, Spaas JH.Mesenchymal stem cells are an innovative therapeutic for various equine orthopaedic diseases, including soft tissue injuries. Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of tenogenic primed equine allogeneic peripheral blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (tpMSCs) in horses with naturally occurring superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) and suspensory ligament (SL) injuries. Methods: Multicentre, blinded, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Methods: One hundred client-owned horses with SDFT and SL injuries were randomised to receive an intralesional tpMSC (66) or saline (34) in...
Li S, Guo K, Wang X, Lin Y, Wang J, Wang Y, Du C, Hu Z, Wang X.Equine infectious anemia (EIA) has a worldwide distribution and causes severe economic losses to the equine industry. The EIA virus (EIAV) genome sequences from different countries are highly diverse, which poses a great challenge for pathogen identification with PCR. Phylogenetic analysis showed that although gag is the most conserved structural gene, it still has great genome variability. Currently, most existing PCR methods are designed based on the gag gene sequence and therefore do not cover all the viral strains, especially Asian EIAV strains. In this study, we developed a tat-gag-based ...
Everett JB, Menarim BC, Barrett SH, Bogers SH, Byron CR, Pleasant RS, Werre SR, Dahlgren LA.Osteoarthritis (OA) can be debilitating and is related to impaired resolution of synovial inflammation. Current treatments offer temporary relief of clinical signs, but have potentially deleterious side effects. Bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMNC) are a rich source of macrophage progenitors that have the ability to reduce OA symptoms in people and inflammation in experimentally-induced synovitis in horses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of intra-articular BMNC therapy to improve clinical signs of naturally occurring equine OA. Horses presenting with clinical and radio...
Carvalho Seabra J, Martinez do Vale M, Spercoski KM, Hess T, Patricio Viviani de Moura P, Dittrich JR.Keeping horses in single stalls can lead to the development of abnormal and stereotypic behaviors (ASB). Opportunities for social interactions and stall architecture can influence behavior. The current study aimed to identify how three different stall architectures influenced time-budget and physiological parameters in horses. Stall types included: (1) 3.2 × 3.7 m with tactile contact between horses (B1); (2) 2.6 × 3.5 m with visual contact between horses and outside view (B2); (3) 2.3 × 3.4 m with visual contact and outside view (B3). Ten horses from B1 and B3, and nine from B2 were ...
Egyptien S, Deleuze S, Ledeck J, Ponthier J.Stallion sperm analysis is indicated for infertility diagnosis, pre-sale expertise, production of fresh or frozen doses, and frozen straw quality control. Various collection methods are described, and numerous assays can be performed on semen. Determining an approach for each of these cases is challenging. This review aims to discuss how to obtain relevant clinical results, answering stallion owners' concerns. Semen can be collected with an artificial vagina on a phantom or a mare, by electro-ejaculation under anesthesia, or after pharmacological induction. The collection method influences the...
Ebel FA, Liaudat AC, Blois DA, Capella V, Broglia MF, Barbero CA, Rodríguez N, Bosch P, Rivarola CR.Novel soft materials based on hydrogel are proposed to enhance the selection of high-quality stallion sperm based on their adhesion capacity. The hydrogel surfaces are derived from polyacrylamide (PAAm), which is copolymerized with neutral and ionic co-monomers to modify the interfacial properties. The hydrogels undergo characterization through FTIR spectroscopy, assessment of swelling capacity, and wettability under various experimental conditions. Sperm adhesion capacity on the hydrogels is examined through several parameters including the percentage of bound sperm (%Sp) to hydrogels, tail o...
Bourebaba L, Serwotka-Suszczak A, Bourebaba N, Zyzak M, Marycz K.Hyperactivation of protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP1B) has been associated with several metabolic malfunctions ranging from insulin resistance, metaflammation, lipotoxicity, and hyperglycaemia. Liver metabolism failure has been proposed as a core element in underlying endocrine disorders through persistent inflammation and highly fibrotic phenotype. Unassigned: In this study, the outcomes of PTP1B inhibition using trodusquemine (MSI-1436) on key equine metabolic syndrome (EMS)-related alterations including inflammation, fibrosis, and glucose uptake have been analyzed in liver explants collect...
Riihimäki M, Fegraeus K, Nordlund J, Waern I, Wernersson S, Akula S, Hellman L, Raine A.Equine asthma (EA) is a heterogenous, complex disease, with a significant negative impact on horse welfare and performance. EA and human asthma share fundamental similarities, making EA a useful model for studying the disease. One relevant sample type for investigating chronic lung inflammation is bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), which provides a snapshot of the immune cells present in the alveolar space. To investigate the immune cell landscape of the respiratory tract in horses with mild-to-moderate equine asthma (mEA) and healthy controls, single-cell RNA sequencing was conducted on equ...
Jung HS, Yun JU, Jung MJ, Song HS, Kim YB, Kim Y, Kim JG, Jeon CO, Roh SW, Whon TW, Lee SH.A novel, anaerobic, Gram-stain-positive coccoid strain, CBA3646, was isolated from the faeces of a thoroughbred racehorse. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing yielded results indicative of CBA3646 representing a member of the genus , with the species most closely related to it being DSM 20463, with a similarity of 94.79 %. DNA-DNA relatedness and average nucleotide identity values between CBA3646 and DSM 20463 were 21.4 and 67.6 %, respectively. CBA3646 has a circular chromosomal genome of 1 709 189 bp (45.5 mol% DNA G+C content), containing 1652 genes in tota...
Equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) of various origins have been identified in horses, including MSCs from the bone marrow and adipose tissue. However, these stem cell sources are highly invasive in sampling, which thereby limits their clinical application in equine veterinary medicine. This study presents a novel method using an air-liquid interface to isolate stem cells from the hair follicle outer root sheath of the equine forehead skin. These stem cells cultured herewith showed high proliferation and asumed MSC phenotype by expressing MSC positive biomarkers (CD29, CD44 CD90) while not e...
Cappelletti E, Piras FM, Sola L, Santagostino M, Petersen JL, Bellone RR, Finno CJ, Peng S, Kalbfleisch TS, Bailey E, Nergadze SG, Giulotto E.Centromeres are epigenetically specified by the histone H3 variant CENP-A. Although mammalian centromeres are typically associated with satellite DNA, we previously demonstrated that the centromere of horse chromosome 11 (ECA11) is completely devoid of satellite DNA. We also showed that the localization of its CENP-A binding domain is not fixed but slides within an about 500 kb region in different individuals, giving rise to positional alleles. These epialleles are inherited as Mendelian traits but their position can move in one generation. It is still unknown whether centromere sliding occu...
Jammes M, Cassé F, Velot E, Bianchi A, Audigié F, Contentin R, Galéra P.Osteoarthritis (OA) is a widespread osteoarticular pathology characterized by progressive hyaline cartilage degradation, exposing horses to impaired well-being, premature career termination, alongside substantial financial losses for horse owners. Among the new therapeutic strategies for OA, using mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)-derived exosomes (MSC-exos) appears to be a promising option for conveying MSC therapeutic potential, yet avoiding the limitations inherent to cell therapy. Here, we first purified and characterized exosomes from MSCs by membrane affinity capture (MAC) and size-exclusio...
Borovikov S, Ryskeldina A, Tursunov K, Syzdykova A, Akibekov O. abortion in mares is caused by subspecies serovar infection and is characterized by premature (abortion) or non-viable fetus birth. Although all horses are susceptible to infection, the condition is more often clinically manifested in pregnant mares, with most abortions recorded in young females. In addition, nonspecific clinical disease signs and poorly sensitive and effective bacteriological diagnostic methods hinder rapid and reliable infection diagnoses. Immunochemical methods such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunochromatography assays can facilitate effective and...
Edwards L, Magdesian KG.To describe a population of horses with acute kidney injury (AKI) following administration of bisphosphonates including clinical signs, clinicopathologic data, treatment, and outcome. Methods: Retrospective study from August 2013 to July 2020. Methods: Veterinary university teaching hospital. Methods: Eight adult horses with AKI following administration of nonnitrogenous bisphosphonates. Methods: None. Results: Five horses received intramuscular clodronate (5/8; 62.5%) and 3 horses received intravenous tiludronate (3/8; 37.5%). Six horses (6/8; 75%) received concurrent nonsteroidal anti-inflam...
Thampi P, Seabaugh KA, Pezzanite LM, Chu CR, Phillips JN, Grieger JC, McIlwraith CW, Samulski RJ, Goodrich LR.Gene therapy approaches using adeno-associated viral vectors have been successfully tested in the equine post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) model. Owing to differences in the levels of transgene expression and adverse tissue reactions observed in published studies, we sought to identify a safe therapeutic dose of scAAVIL-1ra in an inflamed and injured joint that would result in improved functional outcomes without any adverse events. scAAVIL-1ra was delivered intra-articularly over a 100-fold range, and horses were evaluated throughout and at the end of the 10-week study. A dose-related incr...
Bourebaba N, Sikora M, Qasem B, Bourebaba L, Marycz K.Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), which encompasses insulin resistance, low-grade inflammation and predisposition to laminitis is a critical endocrine disorder among the most prevalent conditions affecting horses from different breeds. According to the most recent research, low human sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) serum levels correlate with an increased risk of obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes, and may contribute to overall metabolic dysregulations. This study aimed to test whether exogenous SHBG could protect EMS affected adipose-derived stromal stem cells (EqASC) from apoptosis,...
Tamura N, Heidari N, Faragher RGA, Smith RKW, Dudhia J.Resveratrol (RSV; trans-3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene) strongly activates sirtuin 1, and it and its analogue V29 enhance the proliferation of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs).Although culture medium containing 5-azacytydine and RSV inhibits senescence of adipose tissue-derived MSCs isolated from horses with metabolic syndrome, few studies have reported the effects of RSV on equine bone marrow-derived MSCs (eBMMSCs) isolated from horses without metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of RSV and V29 on the cell cycle of eBMMSCs. Following treatment with 5 µM RS...
da Silva CMB, Cano FEM, Gaitskell-Phillips G, Vega FJP.Flow cytometry is a powerful tool for the analysis of cell samples formed of multipopulations, such as spermatozoa. In recent years, multiparametric cytometers have evolved, allowing the study of different cellular characteristics, such as protein expression, DNA analysis, or mitochondrial activity. Whether using traditional fluorescent dyes or fluorophore-conjugated antibodies, each cell or cellular component is individually stained, the sample is analyzed at high velocities, and then is displayed and interpreted in a dot-plot. We hereby describe the procedure to perform a multiparametric flo...
Bravo-Ramos JL, Sánchez-Montes S, Sánchez-Otero MG, Ballados-Gonzalez GG, Gamboa-Prieto J, Romero-Salas D, Olivares-Muñoz A.Equine piroplasmosis is a parasitic illness caused by various protozoa of the Babesia and Theileria genera, which parasitize within red blood cells. The transmission of these pathogens occurs through certain genus of ticks, including Amblyomma, Haemaphysalis, Hyalomma, and Rhipicephalus. In recent times, an increase in the identification of new Theileria species and genotypes has been observed. This is further complicated by the presence of mixed Theileria infections in both mammals and tick vectors, particularly in regions where wildlife and livestock share habitats and vectors. Therefore, th...
Kovacs S, Racz B, Sotonyi P, Bakos Z.Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia in horses causing poor performance. The role of pulmonary vein triggers in the pathogenesis has been identified in horses. Ablation methods have been investigated, but the available information on anatomical, histological and immunohistochemical assessment of the pulmonary vein ostia and the conduction system of the myocardial sleeve is still limited. Objective: The aim of the study was to describe the morphological properties of the myocardial sleeve in healthy horses. Methods: Cross-sectional. Methods: Eighty-three equine hearts were dissecte...
Pessoa VC, Branco-Ferreira M, Jónsdóttir S, Marti E, Tilley P.Thirty controls (C) and 30 IBH-affected (T) Lusitano horses were evaluated. T horses were included based on anamnesis and physical examination, supported by questionnaires. All horses were submitted to skin tests, Intrademal (IDT) and Skin Prick Tests (SPT), on the neck with 14 specific allergens, 13 recombinant proteins (r-proteins) from Culicoides nubeculosus (Cul n) and Culicoides obsoletus (Cul o) salivary glands and Culicoides nubeculosus Whole Body Extract (Cul n WBE). Addicionally, a cluster of six T and six C horses were also tested with Cul n 3 and Cul n 4 produced in insect cells and...
Barrett JG, MacDonald ES.Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are powerful immunomodulatory cells that act via multiple mechanisms to coordinate, inhibit, and control the cells of the immune system. MSCs act as rescuers for various damaged or degenerated cells of the body via (1) cytokines, growth factors, and signaling molecules; (2) extracellular vesicle (exosome) signaling; and (3) direct donation of mitochondria. Several studies evaluating the efficacy of MSCs have used MSCs grown using xenogeneic media, which may reduce or eliminate efficacy. Although more research is needed to optimize the anti-inflammatory potential o...
Böer U, Lohrenz A, Klingenberg M, Pich A, Haverich A, Wilhelmi M.Decellularized equine carotid arteries (dEAC) may represent a reasonable alternative to alloplastic materials in vascular replacement therapy. Acellularity of the matrix is standardly evaluated by DNA quantification what however may not record sufficiently the degree of matrix immunogenicity. Thus, our aim was to analyze dEAC with a low DNA content for residual cellular proteins. A detergent-based decellularization protocol including endonuclease treatment resulted in dEAC with 0.6 ± 0.15 ng DNA/mg dry weight representing 0.33 ± 0.14% of native tissue DNA content. In contrast, when matrices ...
Wieringa R, de Vries AA, Rottier PJ.Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is an enveloped, positive-stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Arteriviridae of the order NIDOVIRALES: Six transmembrane proteins have been identified in EAV particles: the nonglycosylated membrane protein M and the glycoprotein GP(5) (previously named G(L)), which occur as disulfide-bonded heterodimers and are the major viral envelope proteins; the unglycosylated small envelope protein E; and the minor glycoproteins GP(2b) (formerly designated G(S)), GP(3), and GP(4). Analysis of the appearance of the GP(2b), GP(3), and GP(4) proteins in viral particles by g...
Clegg PD, Strassburg S, Smith RK.Injuries to tendons are common in both human athletes as well as in animals, such as the horse, which are used for competitive purposes. Furthermore, such injuries are also increasing in prevalence in the ageing, sedentary population. Tendon diseases often respond poorly to treatment and require lengthy periods of rehabilitation. The tendon has a unique extracellular matrix, which has developed to withstand the mechanical demands of such tensile-load bearing structures. Following injury, any repair process is inadequate and results in tissue that is distinct from original tendon tissue. There ...
Birch HL, Bailey JV, Bailey AJ, Goodship AE.Specific tendons show a high incidence of partial central core rupture which is preceded by degeneration. In the performance horse, the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) is most often affected. We have described previously the molecular changes that are associated with degeneration in the central core region of the equine SDFT. The pathophysiological mechanism leading to change in synthetic activity of central zone cells in degenerated tendons is not known. In this study, we test the hypothesis that ageing results in matrix composition changes within the central zone of the SDFT. Extrac...
Herteman N, Vargas A, Lavoie JP.Low-density neutrophils (LDNs) are a subset of neutrophils first described in the bloodstream upon pathological conditions, and recently, in the blood of healthy humans. LDNs may have an enhanced pro-inflammatory (low-density granulocytes, LDGs) or an immunosuppressive (Granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells, G-MDSCs) profile. Whether these characteristics are specific to LDNs or related to disease states is unknown. Thus, we sought to investigate the properties of LDNs in both health and disease states, and to compare them to those of autologous normal-density neutrophils (NDNs). We st...
Yokoyama S, Radlwimmer FB.To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of red-green color vision in mammals, we have cloned and sequenced the red and green opsin cDNAs of cat (Felis catus), horse (Equus caballus), gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and guinea pig (Cavia porcellus). These opsins were expressed in COS1 cells and reconstituted with 11-cis-retinal. The purified visual pigments of the cat, horse, squirrel, deer, and guinea pig have lambdamax values at 553, 545, 532, 531, and 516 nm, respectively, which are precise to within +/-1 nm. We also regenerated the "true" red ...
Herszberg B, Ramos-Barbón D, Tamaoka M, Martin JG, Lavoie JP.Increased airway smooth muscle mass is a prominent feature of asthmatic airway remodeling. Airway smooth muscle hyperplasia occurs in rodent models of experimental asthma, but the relevance of such finding to spontaneously occurring disease in large mammals is unknown. Objective: We examined horses with heaves, a naturally occurring equine asthma related to sensitization and exposure to moldy hay. We hypothesized that airway remodeling occurs in heaves and shares disease mechanisms with asthma. Methods: We quantified the airway smooth muscle mass and the numbers of proliferating and apoptotic ...
Reed SA, Johnson SE.Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) offer promise as therapeutic aids in the repair of tendon, ligament, and bone damage suffered by sport horses. The objective of the study was to identify and characterize stem-like cells from newborn foal umbilical cord blood (UCB). UCB was collected and MSC isolated using human reagents. The cells exhibit a fibroblast-like morphology and express the stem cell markers Oct4, SSEA-1, Tra1-60 and Tra1-81. Culture of the cells in tissue-specific differentiation media leads to the formation of cell types characteristic of mesodermal and endodermal origins. Chondrogenic...
Mobasheri A, Lewis R, Maxwell JE, Hill C, Womack M, Barrett-Jolley R.Chondrocytes possess the capacity to transduce load-induced mechanical stimuli into electrochemical signals. The aim of this study was to functionally characterize an ion channel activated in response to membrane stretch in isolated primary equine chondrocytes. We used patch-clamp electrophysiology to functionally characterize this channel and immunohistochemistry to examine its distribution in articular cartilage. In cell-attached patch experiments, the application of negative pressures to the patch pipette (in the range of 20-200 mmHg) activated ion channel currents in six of seven patches. ...
Wagner B, Radbruch A, Rohwer J, Leibold W.In this study we describe the generation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), which recognize different epitopes of the equine IgE constant heavy chain. Equi-murine recombinant IgE (rIgE), composed of the murine V(H)186.2 heavy chain variable region, linked to the equine IgE constant heavy chain and expressed together with the murine lambda(1) chain in J558L cells was used to immunize BALB/C mice. A total of 17 different mAbs were obtained, which recognized the rIgE heavy chain constant region. None of the mAbs reacted with monoclonal equine isotypes IgM, IgG1 (IgGa), IgG3 (IgG(T)), IgG4 (IgGb) or...
Fortier LA, Smith RK.After tendon injury, the scar tissue that replaces the damaged tendon results in a substantial risk for reinjury. The goal of regenerative therapies is to restore normal structural architecture and biomechanical function to an injured tissue. Successful restoration processes for any tissue are thought to recapitulate those of development, in which there are spatial and temporal interactions between scaffold, growth factors, and cell populations.
Frisbie DD, Smith RK.Stem cells have received much attention in recent times because of their potential to improve healing of othropaedic problems. This manuscript presents the genesis, issues and current state of stem cell treatment in equine medicine. Current literature supports the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for treatment of orthopaedic problems.
Williams IF, Heaton A, McCullagh KG.The histological appearance of cells and tissues in the reparative scar tissue which forms in the equine superficial flexor tendon following partial rupture was compared to that of normal tendon. The repair fibroblasts were found to be larger and more basophilic than the tenocytes of normal tendon, to have large vesicular nuclei and to resemble the 'myofibroblasts' described in scar tissue elsewhere. The cell to matrix ratio in scarred zones of tendon was found to be increased and the concentration of collagen in these areas was less than in normal tendon. However, the scar tissue collagen was...
Kydd J, Antczak DF, Allen WR, Barbis D, Butcher G, Davis W, Duffus WP, Edington N, Grünig G, Holmes MA.The First International Workshop on Equine Leucocyte Antigens was organized and convened for the purposes of identifying immunologically relevant cell surface molecules of equine leucocytes and establishing a system of nomenclature for those molecules. Participating members of the workshop represented the majority of laboratories world-wide engaged in the tasks of production and characterization of equine leucocyte and lymphocyte markers using monoclonal antibodies. The workshop confirmed the identification of several equine CD molecules described previously by individual laboratories, and in ...
Stanley RL, Fleck RA, Becker DL, Goodship AE, Ralphs JR, Patterson-Kane JC.Injury to the energy-storing superficial digital flexor tendon is common in equine athletes and is age-related. Tenocytes in the superficial digital flexor tendon of adult horses appear to have limited ability to respond adaptively to exercise or prevent the accumulation of strain-induced microdamage. It has been suggested that conditioning exercise should be introduced during the growth period, when tenocytes may be more responsive to increased quantities or intensities of mechanical strain. Tenocytes are linked into networks by gap junctions that allow coordination of synthetic activity and ...
Bavin EP, Smith O, Baird AE, Smith LC, Guest DJ.Tendon injuries occur commonly in horses and their repair through scar tissue formation predisposes horses to a high rate of re-injury. Pluripotent stem cells may provide a cell replacement therapy to improve tendon tissue regeneration and lower the frequency of re-injury. We have previously demonstrated that equine embryonic stem cells (ESCs) differentiate into the tendon cell lineage upon injection into the damaged horse tendon and can differentiate into functional tendon cells in vitro to generate artificial tendons. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have now been derived from horses b...
Mahé C, Zlotkowska AM, Reynaud K, Tsikis G, Mermillod P, Druart X, Schoen J, Saint-Dizier M.In vitro fertilization (IVF) gives rise to embryos in a number of mammalian species and is currently widely used for assisted reproduction in humans and for genetic purposes in cattle. However, the rate of polyspermy is generally higher in vitro than in vivo and IVF remains ineffective in some domestic species like pigs and horses, highlighting the importance of the female reproductive tract for gamete quality and fertilization. In this review, the way the female environment modulates sperm selective migration, survival, and acquisition of fertilizing ability in the oviduct is being considered...
Contentin R, Demoor M, Concari M, Desancé M, Audigié F, Branly T, Galéra P.Osteoarthritis (OA) remains incurable in humans or horses and mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) represent an attractive solution for producing a neocartilage substitute. However, the best MSC source still needs to be identified. This study compared the chondrogenic potential of equine MSCs derived from bone marrow (BM) and umbilical cord blood (UCB), at their undifferentiated status to check if one cell source is better proned, and after chondrogenic-induced differentiation. Chondrogenesis was induced by culture in collagen scaffold with BMP-2 + TGF-ß1 in hypoxia or normoxia. MSCs cho...
Geburek F, Roggel F, van Schie HTM, Beineke A, Estrada R, Weber K, Hellige M, Rohn K, Jagodzinski M, Welke B, Hurschler C, Conrad S, Skutella T....Adipose tissue is a promising source of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) for the treatment of tendon disease. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of a single intralesional implantation of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (AT-MSCs) on artificial lesions in equine superficial digital flexor tendons (SDFTs). During this randomized, controlled, blinded experimental study, either autologous cultured AT-MSCs suspended in autologous inactivated serum (AT-MSC-serum) or autologous inactivated serum (serum) were injected intralesionally 2 weeks after surgical creation of cen...
Raabe O, Shell K, Fietz D, Freitag C, Ohrndorf A, Christ HJ, Wenisch S, Arnhold S.Mesenchymal stem cells have become extremely interesting for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering in the horse. Stem cell therapy has been proven to be a powerful and successful instrument, in particular for the healing of tendon lesions. We pre-differentiated equine adipose-tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) in a collagen I gel scaffold by applying tensile strain, growth differentiation factors (GDFs) and various oxygen tensions in order to determine the optimal conditions for in vitro differentiation toward the tenogenic lineage. We compared the influence of 3% versus 21% oxygen tensio...
Dakin SG, Dudhia J, Werling NJ, Werling D, Abayasekara DR, Smith RK.The contribution of inflammation to the pathogenesis of tendinopathy and high prevalence of re-injury is not well established, although recent evidence suggests involvement of prostaglandins. We investigated the roles of prostaglandins and inflammation-resolving mediators in naturally occurring equine tendon injury with disease stage and age. Levels of prostaglandins E(2) (PGE(2)), F(2α) (PGF(2α)), lipoxin A(4) (LXA(4)) and its receptor FPR2/ALX were analysed in extracts of normal, sub-acute and chronic injured tendons. To assess whether potential changes were associated with altered PGE(2) ...
Argüelles D, Carmona JU, Pastor J, Iborra A, Viñals L, Martínez P, Bach E, Prades M.The aim of this study was to evaluate single and double centrifugation tube methods for concentrating equine platelets. Whole blood samples were collected from clinically normal horses and processed by use of single and double centrifugation tube methods to obtain four platelet concentrates (PCs): PC-A, PC-B, PC-C, and PC-D, which were analyzed using a flow cytometry hematology system for hemogram and additional platelet parameters (mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, mean platelet component concentration, mean platelet component distribution width). Concentrations of transformi...
Yi J, Heinecke J, Tan H, Ford PC, Richter-Addo GB.It is now well-established that mammalian heme proteins are reactive with various nitrogen oxide species and that these reactions may play significant roles in mammalian physiology. For example, the ferrous heme protein myoglobin (Mb) has been shown to reduce nitrite (NO(2)(-)) to nitric oxide (NO) under hypoxic conditions. We demonstrate here that the distal pocket histidine residue (His64) of horse heart metMb(III) (i.e., ferric Mb(III)) has marked effects on the mode of nitrite ion coordination to the iron center. X-ray crystal structures were determined for the mutant proteins metMb(III) H...
Van de Walle GR, Peters ST, VanderVen BC, O'Callaghan DJ, Osterrieder N.Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is a member of the Alphaherpesvirinae, and its broad tissue tropism suggests that EHV-1 may use multiple receptors to initiate virus entry. EHV-1 entry was thought to occur exclusively through fusion at the plasma membrane, but recently entry via the endocytic/phagocytic pathway was reported for Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-K1 cells). Here we show that cellular integrins, and more specifically those recognizing RGD motifs such as alphaVbeta5, are important during the early steps of EHV-1 entry via endocytosis in CHO-K1 cells. Moreover, mutational analysis revea...
Hdud IM, Mobasheri A, Loughna PT.The metabolic activity of articular chondrocytes is influenced by osmotic alterations that occur in articular cartilage secondary to mechanical load. The mechanisms that sense and transduce mechanical signals from cell swelling and initiate volume regulation are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the expression of two putative osmolyte channels [transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) and large-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (BKCa)] in chondrocytes is modulated in different osmotic conditions and to examine a potential role for MAPKs in this process...
Zhang B, Jin S, Jin J, Li F, Montelaro RC.Characterization of cellular receptors for human, simian, and feline immunodeficiency viruses that are tropic for lymphocytes and macrophages have revealed a common theme of a sequential binding of viral envelope proteins with two coreceptors to mediate virus infection of target cells. In contrast to these dual tropic immunodeficiency viruses, the ungulate lentiviruses, including equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), exclusively infect cells of the monocyte-macrophage lineage to cause progressive degenerative diseases without clinical immunodeficiency. EIAV causes a uniquely dynamic disease t...
Block JA, Oegema TR, Sandy JD, Plaas A.Oral glucosamine (GlcN) has been widely studied for its potential therapeutic benefits in alleviating the pain and disability of osteoarthritis (OA). Its popularity has grown despite ongoing controversy regarding its effectiveness vs placebo in clinical trials, and lack of information regarding possible mechanisms of action. Here, we review the state of knowledge concerning the biology of GlcN as it relates to OA, and discuss a framework for future research directions. Methods: An editorial "narrative" review of peer-reviewed publications is organized into four topics (1) Chemistry and pharmac...
Ranera B, Ordovás L, Lyahyai J, Bernal ML, Fernandes F, Remacha AR, Romero A, Vázquez FJ, Osta R, Cons C, Varona L, Zaragoza P, Martín-Burriel I....Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) represent an attractive source for regenerative medicine. However, prior to their application, fundamental questions regarding molecular characterisation, growth and differentiation of MSCs must be resolved. Objective: To compare and better understand the behaviour of equine MSCs obtained from bone marrow (BM) and adipose tissue (AT) in culture. Methods: Five horses were included in this study. Proliferation rate was measured using MTT assay and cell viability; apoptosis, necrosis and late apoptosis and necrosis were evaluated by flow cytometry. The mRNA expres...
