Abstract
Background:Hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) located in the bulge area has shown to be highly proliferative and could differentiate into neurons, glia, smooth muscle cell, and melanocytes in vitro. Simvastatin is an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor that exerts pleiotropic effects beyond simple low-density lipoprotein lowering and has a similar impact on the differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The present study examined the hypothesis that the application of simvastatin would induce the HFSCs differentiation into keratinocyte. Methods:The bulge of the hair follicle was anatomized, and HFSCs were cultivated. The flow cytometry and immunocytochemical staining for detection of nestin, CD34, and Kr15 biomarkers were performed before differentiation. In order to hasten the HFSCs differentiation to keratinocyte, HFSCs were treated with 1 µM, 2 µM, and 5 µM of simvastatin daily for a week. After differentiation, the flow cytometry and immunocytochemical staining were performed with Kr15 and Kr10 biomarkers, and the MTT assay was carried out as an index of cell viability and cell growth. Results:Our results showed that bulge of HFSCs were nestin and CD34 positive and Kr15 negative. Simvastatin significantly increased the viability of HFSCs (p < 0.05) at the concentration of 5 µM. In addition, the percentages of keratinocyte-differentiated cells treated with 5 µM of simvastatin showed a significant increase compared to all other treated groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion:Our findings demonstrate that 5 µM of simvastatin could induce HFSCs differentiation into keratinocyte.
Highlights
Wound healing is one of the major therapeutic and economic issues in the field of regenerative medicine[1]
The influences of statins on cell differentiation have been mentioned in some studies; the results showed that simvastatin promotes osteoblast viability and adipocyte differentiation[16] and enhances endothelial differentiation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells[17]
The results showed that bulge cells were CD34 and nestin-positive, but Kr15 and Kr10 were negative (Fig. 2)
Summary
Wound healing is one of the major therapeutic and economic issues in the field of regenerative medicine[1]. Differentiation of hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) into keratinocytes highlights a promising stem cell-based therapy in the field of wound healing. Studies have shown strong multipotency of bulge stem cells, where they were attracted to differentiate into neurons, glial cells, keratinocytes, melanocytes, and mesenchymal cells; they were detected to contribute to angiogenesis[8,9,10,11,12]. Hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) located in the bulge area has shown to be highly proliferative and could differentiate into neurons, glia, smooth muscle cell, and melanocytes in vitro. The flow cytometry and immunocytochemical staining were performed with Kr15 and Kr10 biomarkers, and the MTT assay was carried out as an index of cell viability and cell growth.
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