Protective effects of hepatocyte growth factor gene overexpression against hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis in mesenchymal stem cells

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has recently been reported to exhibit antioxidant and antiapoptotic effects. Therefore, we investigated the effect of overexpression of HGF gene in H2O2-treated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). HGF-overexpression increased the cell viability from 50% to 84%, decreased the population of apoptotic cells from 20% to 16%, and decreased the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels from 127% to 100% in cells treated with H2O2. HGF suppression decreased the cell viability from 58% to 36%, increased the population of apoptotic cells from 23 to 81%, and increased the intracellular ROS levels from 181% to 240% in cells exposed to H2O2. HGF-overexpression also reduced the expression levels of proapoptotic proteins in MSCs treated with H2O2. Phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases, c-Jun amino-terminal kinases, and p38, which was induced by H2O2, decreased in MSCs overexpressing the HGF gene. Taken together, our results suggest that HGF has a protective effect on H2O2-induced apoptosis in MSCs.