Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor (Trapoxin A) Enhances Stemness Properties in Adipose Tissue Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Back ground Adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) have unique potential for regenerative cell therapies. However, during ex-vivo cultivation, they undergo considerable quality loss regarding their phenotypic properties, stemness genes expression and differentiation potential. Recent studies reported that the loss of stemness properties of MSCs is a result of chromatin histone deacetylations through in-vitro cultivation. The present work aimed to study the effect of Trapoxin A (TPX) as a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) on overall stemness properties of ASCs. Methods First, the effects of TPX treatments on ASCs viability and proliferation were evaluated using MTT assay. Second, the desired doses of TPX supporting ASCs proliferation were determined and the lack of their negative effects was confirmed by DAPI staining. In addition, the influence of TPX on cell cycle of ASCs and the mRNA levels of stemness genes were measured by flowcytometry and qPCR, respectively. Finally, the effect of TPX treatment on osteogenic potential of ASCs was studied. Results The results indicated that short time TPX treatment (nM concentrations) caused stimulation of proliferation and considerable percentage of ASCs entered to S-phase of cell cycle (p < 0.05). Moreover, the findings demonstrated significant up-regulation of stemness markers genes (Oct-4, Sox-2, Nanog, TERT, Klf-4, Rex-1) (p < 0.05) and enhanced osteogenic differentiation potential of ASC after TPX treatment. Conclusion The addition of low dose of TPX to the expansion medium could possibly enhance the stemness properties and prevent the quality decline of ex-vivo cultured ASCs.