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Human Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cell Secretome Modifies the Processes of Neuroprotection and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Retinal Pigment Epithelium at Transcriptional Level

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Abstract

Background

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells are potential targets for treating retinal detachment (RD) and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), considering the importance of neuroprotection and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of RPE in these conditions. This study investigated the effect of human Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cell secretome (WJMSC-S) on the expression of genes involved in both neuroprotection and EMT in RPE cells in vitro (TRKB, MAPK, PI3K, BDNF, and NGF).

Methods

RPE cells from passages 5–7 were treated with WJMSC-S (or the vehicle culture medium as control) for 24 h at 37◦C and subsequently subjected to RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis. Gene expression level was evaluated using real-time PCR in the treated versus control cells.

Results

The results of our study showed that WJMSC-S led to a significant downregulation in three out of five studied gene expression (MAPK, TRKB, and NGF), and simultaneously, remarkably upregulated the expression of the BDNF gene.

Conclusions

According to the present data, WJMSC-S can affect the EMT and neuroprotection processes at the mRNA level by suppressing EMT and promoting neuroprotection in RPE cells. This finding may have positive clinical implications in the context of RD and PVR.

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Data Availability

Data will be made available on request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Zahra Khodabandeh (Stem Cells Technology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Science) for her kind assistance in this study.

Funding

This study was supported by Shiraz University of Medical Science (Grant# 24961).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Poostchi Ophthalmology Research Center, Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Zand Boulevard, Poostchi Street, Shiraz, Iran

    M. Hossein Nowroozzadeh, Shiva Ghazanfari & Fatemeh Sanie-Jahromi

Authors
  1. M. Hossein Nowroozzadeh
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  2. Shiva Ghazanfari
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  3. Fatemeh Sanie-Jahromi
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Contributions

F.S. and MH.N. conceived and designed the study, analyzed the data; F.S. performed the experimental analysis; F.S., MH.N., and Sh. Gh. wrote the main manuscript and revised the final version. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fatemeh Sanie-Jahromi.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was reviewed and approved by the ethics committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (IR.SUMS.REC.1400.552), and informed written consent was obtained from donors and participants.

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Not applicable.

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The authors report no commercial or proprietary interest in any product or concept discussed in this article.

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Nowroozzadeh, M.H., Ghazanfari, S. & Sanie-Jahromi, F. Human Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cell Secretome Modifies the Processes of Neuroprotection and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Retinal Pigment Epithelium at Transcriptional Level. Mol Biol Rep 50, 5725–5732 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-023-08496-0

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