Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells that have the ability to self-renew and regulate paracrine signalling and immune system processes. MSCs have extensive clinical applications in regeneration, functional reconstruction and cellular therapies. However, studies are needed to discover ways to improve the properties of MSCs, such as differentiation, and prevent senescence in culture, which are both very important for cell therapies. Royal jelly (RJ) is a nutritional substance produced by worker bees that contains a substantial amounts of proteins that are beneficial for cell growth and proliferation. RJ is widely used in traditional medicine today, and due to the specific components in its content, it has been reported to have antioxidant, antiproliferative, antimicrobial, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and anti-ageing properties. In our study, human Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) derived from umbilical cord matrix were grown in culture medium supplemented with RJ. The control group comprised minimum essential medium (MEM) and 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS); RJ groups were formed using MEM, 10% FBS and 0.075 mg/ml or 0.150 mg/ml RJ. In our study, we evaluated the effect of RJ on WJ-MSC growth by MTT assay, proliferating cell nuclear antigen ELISA, β-galactosidase activity assay, MitoTracker Green staining and differentiation tests in adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic cell lines. It was observed that the number of mitochondria increased, senescence decreased and osteogenic differentiation increased after differentiation induction after the addition of RJ to MSC culture. In general, the results of this study indicate that WJ-MSCs enhance mitochondrial numbers and important cellular activities, such as antisenescence and osteogenic differentiation, and with increasing evidence from further studies, RJ supplementation may be found beneficial for the use of MSCs in bone engineering regenerative medicine or cell therapy.
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This research was supported by the Necmettin Erbakan University Scientific Research Unit (project number: 221218010).
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GÇ: conception or design of the work, the acquisition of data, drafted the work, reviewed it critically for important intellectual content, the version to be published. FÖB: acquisition of data, analysis of data, critical revision for important intellectual content and interpretation of data.
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The study was approved by the Local Ethical Review Committee (protocol number: 2022/3900-10733) in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects and Samples.
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Çiçek, G., Öz Bağcı, F. Effects of royal jelly on the antisenescence, mitochondrial viability and osteogenic differentiation capacity of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Histochem Cell Biol 161, 183–193 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-023-02243-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-023-02243-z