Effect of salidroside on apoptosis of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells induced by ara-C

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of salidroside on human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (hBMMSC) apoptosis induced by cytarabine C (Ara-C) and its mechanism, hBMMSC were cultured in vitro and isolated by Fircoll density gradient centrifugation; cell surface antigens were measured by flow cytometry; the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of MSC was tested and evaluated by specific staining methods. The proliferation and apoptosis of cells exposed to Ara- C were detected by MTT and flow cytometry respectively. The experiments were divided into 4 groups: control group, Ara-C group, salidroside group and Ara-C+salidroside group. The mRNA expression of BCL-2 and BAX was assayed by RT-PCR. The results showed that the adherent cells displayed spindle and fibroblast cell-like shape; the hBMMSC expressed CD44, CD71 and HLA-ABC, not expressed CD34, CD45 and HLA-DR; the hBMMSC successfully differentiated into osteogenic and adipogenic lineages, which showed mineralization with von Kossa staining. Furthermore, liquid vacuoles were detected by oil red O staining; Ara- C exhibited a less inhibitory effect on the proliferation of hBMMSC treated with salidroside. The apoptosis of hBMMSC treated with salidroside were significantly higher as compared with control group (P < 0.05); RT-PCR results demonstrated that the BCL-2 expression was significantly down regulated but BAX mRNA expressions was up-regulated in Ara- C group as compared with those in the control group. Salidroside significantly inhibited the apoptosis of MSC and reversed the mRNA expression of BCL-2 and BAX. It is concluded that salidroside can inhibit the apoptosis of hBMMSC induced by Ara-C, its mechanism may be related with the regulation of BCL-2/BAX expression.