Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been shown to display a considerable therapeutic potential in cellular therapies. However, harmful adipogenic maldifferentiation of transplanted MSCs may seriously threaten the success of this therapeutic approach. We have previously demonstrated that using platelet lysate (PL) instead of widely used fetal calf serum (FCS) diminished lipid accumulation in adipogenically stimulated human MSCs and identified, among others, lipocalin-type prostaglandin D2 synthase (L-PGDS) as a gene suppressed in PL-supplemented MSCs. Here, we investigated the role of PL and putatively pro-adipogenic L-PGDS in human MSC adipogenesis. Next to strongly reduced levels of L-PGDS we show that PL-supplemented MSCs display markedly decreased expression of adipogenic master regulators and differentiation markers, both before and after induction of adipocyte differentiation. The low adipogenic differentiation capability of PL-supplemented MSCs could be partially restored by exogenous addition of L-PGDS protein. Conversely, siRNA-mediated downregulation of L-PGDS in FCS-supplemented MSCs profoundly reduced adipocyte differentiation. In contrast, inhibiting endogenous prostaglandin synthesis by aspirin did not reduce differentiation, suggesting that a mechanism such as lipid shuttling but not the prostaglandin D2 synthase activity of L-PGDS is critical for adipogenesis. Our data demonstrate that L-PGDS is a novel pro-adipogenic factor in human MSCs which might be of relevance in adipocyte metabolism and disease. L-PGDS gene expression is a potential quality marker for human MSCs, as it might predict unwanted adipogenic differentiation after MSC transplantation.
