Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Apr 26, 2024; 16(4): 434-443
Published online Apr 26, 2024. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v16.i4.434
Effects of high glucose and severe hypoxia on the biological behavior of mesenchymal stem cells at various passages
Fatimah Almahasneh, Ejlal Abu-El-Rub, Ramada R Khasawneh, Rawan Almazari
Fatimah Almahasneh, Ejlal Abu-El-Rub, Ramada R Khasawneh, Rawan Almazari, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21163, Jordan
Author contributions: Abu-El-Rub E conceptualized the study; Almahasneh F, Abu-El-Rub E, Khasawneh RR, and Almazari R carried out the experiments; Almahasneh F and Abu-El-Rub E analyzed the data, revised and formatted the content of the manuscript and verified spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors; Almahasneh F drafted and wrote the manuscript; and all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research, Yarmouk University, Jordan, No. 73/2022.
Institutional review board statement: Institutional review board approval was not needed for this study because the human cell lines used for this study were commercially purchased.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ejlal Abu-El-Rub, PharmD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Yarmouk University, Irbid-Shafiq Irshidat Street, Irbid 21163, Jordan. ejlal.abuelrub@yu.edu.jo
Received: December 30, 2023
Peer-review started: December 30, 2023
First decision: January 23, 2024
Revised: February 5, 2024
Accepted: March 18, 2024
Article in press: March 18, 2024
Published online: April 26, 2024
Processing time: 116 Days and 8 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have significant therapeutic potential. The biological properties of MSCs seem to be affected by serial passage and stress factors.

Research motivation

Despite their regenerative and immunomodulatory properties, the therapeutic applications of MSCs are sub-optimal and short-lived. The effects of stress factors on MSCs at various serial passages on their biological characteristics have not been recognized yet.

Research objectives

This study aimed to investigate the effects of stress factors (high glucose and severe hypoxia) on the biological characteristics of MSCs at different passages, in order to optimize the therapeutic applications of MSCs.

Research methods

Proliferation, senescence and apoptosis of MSCs exposed to severe hypoxia and high glucose were evaluated measuring WST-1, senescence-associated beta-galactosidase, and annexin V, respectively.

Research results

Severe hypoxia and high glucose affected the biological responses of human adipose tissue-derived MSCs and these responses varied according to the serial passages. At high passages, a reverse relationship between senescence and apoptosis was observed, suggesting that senescence in MSCs may represent a protective mechanism against stress.

Research conclusions

This study showed that the passage number of MSCs could represent a significant factor to be taken into consideration when choosing the optimal MSCs for specific therapeutic applications.

Research perspectives

The practice of limiting MSCs used in regenerative therapies into the earlier passages should be reviewed to expand and optimize the therapeutic potential of MSCs.