Evaluation of changes in telomere length and cell cycle in cardiomyogenesis of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in the presence of silver nanoparticles

Abstract

Introduction: One of the limitations of cell therapy with stem cells, as a branch of regenerative medicine, is their low differentiation efficiency. By differentiating stem cells into the target cells to prevent any injury, the telomere length decreases that leading to cell aging and affecting the success of cell therapy. It was shown that the differentiation efficiency of stem cells into the cardiomyocytes directly related to the telomere length. Therefore, agents that increase the telomere length can be widely used including nanoparticles (NPs). NPs are substances with dimensions in the order of 1–100 nm that possess unique properties owing to their small size and greater surface area per unit volume; thus, they show a higher reactivity with other molecules. Objective: This research aims to evaluate telomere length changes and cell cycle in cardiomyogenesis of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (rBMSCs) in the presence of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Methods: In this research, after cardiac differentiation, the isolated rBMSCs were treated with AgNPs. Real time PCR method was used to investigate the effect of AgNPs on the telomere length of MSCs. Then, to evaluate effect of AgNPs on the cell cycle, Cyclin-D protein expression was measured by western blotting. Results: According to the results obtained from this study, treatment of rBMSCs with AgNPs significantly increased telomere length and Cyclin-D protein expression. Also, these types of MSCs could increase cardiomyogenic differentiation efficiency by increasing telomere length.