Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41299580›Full record

ArticleStem cell research & therapy2025

Enhanced lubricin secretion by human synovial mesenchymal stem cells compared to adipose mesenchymal stem cells.

Takuya Takakuwa, Kentaro Endo, Nobutake Ozeki, Yusuke Nakagawa, Hideyuki Koga, Makoto Tomita, Ichiro Sekiya

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Stem cell research & therapy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Takuya TakakuwaCenter for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Applied Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Science Tokyo, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan.
Kentaro EndoCenter for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Applied Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Science Tokyo, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan.
Nobutake OzekiCenter for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Applied Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Science Tokyo, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan.
Yusuke NakagawaDepartment of Cartilage Regeneration Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Hideyuki KogaDepartment of Joint Surgery and Sports Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Makoto TomitaSchool of Data Science, Graduate School of Data Science, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
Ichiro SekiyaCenter for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Applied Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Science Tokyo, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan. sekiya.arm@tmd.ac.jp.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6331-722X

Funding

Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development JP24bk0104148
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy has emerged as a promising treatment option for knee osteoarthritis. Adipose MSCs are commonly used due to their easy accessibility; however, synovial MSCs have demonstrated a superior capacity for cartilage matrix synthesis. The mechanism underlying this difference in therapeutic efficacy may involve lubricin, a crucial glycoprotein that maintains joint lubrication and protects cartilage. Notably, lubricin levels decrease during the progression of osteoarthritis. The aim of this study was to compare extracellular lubricin secretion by human synovial MSCs versus adipose MSCs. We also analyzed potential correlations between synovial MSC lubricin secretion and synovial inflammation.

methodsTissues for MSC isolation were obtained from 16 human donors with osteoarthritis who underwent total knee arthroplasty. Synovium was collected from the suprapatellar pouch on the femoral side, whereas adipose tissue was harvested from the subcutaneous layer of the knee skin incision. The synovial and adipose MSCs from each donor were cultured for 48 h (six replicate wells per donor), and lubricin concentrations in culture supernatants were measured using ELISA. For 11 donors, lubricin concentrations were measured directly, whereas the concentrations were normalized to cell number for the other 5 donors. MSC identity was assessed by flow cytometry and trilineage differentiation assays. Correlations between synovial MSC lubricin secretion and clinical parameters, including age, CRP, WBC, numerical rating scale for knee pain, synovial redness, synovial hyperplasia, and Krenn's synovitis score, were assessed.

resultsLubricin secretion was significantly greater from synovial MSCs than from adipose MSCs in 8 of the 11 directly analyzed MSC supernatants (p = 0.014 by Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test). However, the results from all 5 donors whose lubricin concentrations were normalized to cell number revealed a consistently higher lubricin secretion by synovial MSCs than by adipose MSCs. Every representative preparation of synovial and adipose MSCs fulfilled standard MSC identity criteria. No correlations were found between lubricin secretion and synovial inflammation or any clinical parameters.

conclusionsMore lubricin was secreted from human synovial MSCs than from adipose MSCs in the majority of donors examined. These findings support the potential therapeutic advantages of using synovial MSCs for osteoarthritis treatment.

Indexed as

Adipose TissueGlycoproteinsMesenchymal Stem CellsSynovial MembraneAgedCell DifferentiationCells, CulturedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedOsteoarthritis, KneeProteoglycan 4GlycoproteinsProteoglycan 4Adipose tissueKneeLubricinMesenchymal stem cellOsteoarthritisSynovium

Identifiers

PMID41299580
PMCPMC12752376

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.