Stem cell therapies have emerged as a promising treatment strategy for various diseases characterized by ischemic injury such as ischemic stroke. Cell survival after transplantation remains a critical issue. We investigated the impact of oxidative stress, being typically present in ischemically challenged tissue, on human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSC) and human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). We used oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) to induce oxidative stress in hDPSC and hMSC. OGD-induced generation of O2•- or H2O2 enhanced autophagy by inducing the expression of activating molecule in BECN1-regulated autophagy protein 1 (Ambra1) and Beclin1 in both cell types. However, hDPSC and hMSC pre-conditioning using reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers significantly repressed the expression of Ambra1 and Beclin1 and inactivated autophagy. O2•- or H2O2 acted upstream of autophagy, and the mechanism was unidirectional. Furthermore, our findings revealed ROS-p38-Erk1/2 involvement. Pre-treatment with selective inhibitors of p38 and Erk1/2 pathways (SB202190 and PD98059) reversed OGD effects on the expression of Ambra1 and Beclin1, suggesting that these pathways induced oxidative stress-mediated autophagy. SIRT3 depletion was found to be associated with increased oxidative stress and activation of p38 and Erk1/2 MAPKs pathways. Global ROS inhibition by NAC or a combination of polyethylene glycol-superoxide dismutase (PEG-SOD) and polyethylene glycol-catalase (PEG-catalase) further confirmed that O2•- or H2O2 or a combination of both impacts stems cell viability by inducing autophagy. Furthermore, autophagy inhibition by 3-methyladenine (3-MA) significantly improved hDPSC viability. These findings contribute to a better understanding of post-transplantation hDPSC and hMSC death and may deduce strategies to minimize therapeutic cell loss under oxidative stress.

Center for Advanced Imaging Research Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine University of Maryland Baltimore MD USA

Department of Life Science National Institute of Technology Rourkela Odisha India

Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital Era University Lucknow Uttar Pradesh India

Institute of Parasitology Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences Ceske Budejovice South Bohemia Czech Republic

Laboratory for Stem Cell and Restorative Neurology Department of Biotechnology Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital Era University Lucknow Uttar Pradesh India

Metabolic Unit Era University Lucknow Uttar Pradesh India

School of Life Sciences University of Warwick Coventry UK

References provided by Crossref.org