Characterization of mesenchymal stromal cell-mediated mitochondrial transfer to healthy and diseased intervertebral disc cells
- 1Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
- 2Department of Neurological Surgery, Och Spine at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- 3Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
Abstract
Intradiscal injection of mesenchymal stromal cells has gained widespread interest for the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration. Mesenchymal stromal cells have been shown to impart a therapeutic benefit on treated tissues through a variety of mechanisms including mitochondrial transfer. Mitochondrial transfer from mesenchymal stromal cells to diseased cells has been demonstrated, in numerous model systems, to increase the survival and function of recipient cells. To date there are few studies that have investigated mitochondrial transfer from mesenchymal stromal cells to intervertebral disc cells. The goal of this study is to characterize mitochondrial transfer from mesenchymal stromal cells to bovine and human intervertebral disc cells using confocal microscopy. Following a 24-hour coculture period, bovine mesenchymal stromal cells were shown to transfer mitochondria to bovine annulus fibrosus cells under both healthy and inflammatory conditions. In addition, human mesenchymal stromal cells were shown to transfer mitochondria to diseased, patient-derived intervertebral disc cells. Mitochondrial transfer quantity was found to increase under inflammatory stress conditions and with patient age, though functional consequences of this transfer remain to be determined. This study is the first to show mesenchymal stromal cells transfer mitochondria to bovine annulus fibrosus cells and patient derived intervertebral disc cells. We provide evidence that mitochondrial transfer is a relevant mechanism by which mesenchymal stromal cells communicate with intervertebral disc cells.
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BibTeX
@article{cardenas2026characterization,
title = {{Characterization of mesenchymal stromal cell-mediated mitochondrial transfer to healthy and diseased intervertebral disc cells}},
author = {Ashley Cardenas and Noah Willett and Anthony Robayo and Jessica Berger and Blake Boadi and Chibuikem A. Ikwuegbuenyi and Ibrahim Hussain and Roger Härtl and Lawrence J. Bonassar},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0357296},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357296},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Characterization of mesenchymal stromal cell-mediated mitochondrial transfer to healthy and diseased intervertebral disc cells
AU - Ashley Cardenas
AU - Noah Willett
AU - Anthony Robayo
AU - Jessica Berger
AU - Blake Boadi
AU - Chibuikem A. Ikwuegbuenyi
AU - Ibrahim Hussain
AU - Roger Härtl
AU - Lawrence J. Bonassar
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/15
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0357296
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357296
AB - Intradiscal injection of mesenchymal stromal cells has gained widespread interest for the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration. Mesenchymal stromal cells have been shown to impart a therapeutic benefit on treated tissues through a variety of mechanisms including mitochondrial transfer. Mitochondrial transfer from mesenchymal stromal cells to diseased cells has been demonstrated, in numerous model systems, to increase the survival and function of recipient cells. To date there are few studies that have investigated mitochondrial transfer from mesenchymal stromal cells to intervertebral disc cells. The goal of this study is to characterize mitochondrial transfer from mesenchymal stromal cells to bovine and human intervertebral disc cells using confocal microscopy. Following a 24-hour coculture period, bovine mesenchymal stromal cells were shown to transfer mitochondria to bovine annulus fibrosus cells under both healthy and inflammatory conditions. In addition, human mesenchymal stromal cells were shown to transfer mitochondria to diseased, patient-derived intervertebral disc cells. Mitochondrial transfer quantity was found to increase under inflammatory stress conditions and with patient age, though functional consequences of this transfer remain to be determined. This study is the first to show mesenchymal stromal cells transfer mitochondria to bovine annulus fibrosus cells and patient derived intervertebral disc cells. We provide evidence that mitochondrial transfer is a relevant mechanism by which mesenchymal stromal cells communicate with intervertebral disc cells.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -