Ahmadi Shirin, Nabiuni Mohammad, Tahmaseb Mohammad, Amini Elaheh
Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
Iran J Pharm Res. 2021 Spring;20(2):95-106. doi: 10.22037/ijpr.2019.15561.13176.
Neurodegenerative diseases are incurable and debilitating conditions that result in progressive degeneration of nerve cells. Due to the complexity of conditions in neurodegenerative diseases, combination therapy, including cell and drug therapy is important as a new therapeutic strategy. Epidermal neural crest stem cells (EPI-NCSCs) are among the best choices in cell therapy for various neurological diseases. In this study, the effect of Lithium carbonate and Crocin, considering their effects on cellular signaling pathways and neuroprotective properties were investigated on the expression of neurotrophic factors BDNF and GDNF in EPI-NCSCs. EPI-NCSCs were isolated from the hair follicle and treated with different concentrations of drugs [Lithium, Crocin, and lithium + Crocin] for 72h. Then, trial concentrations were selected by MTT assay. The cells were treated with selected concentrations (Lithium 1 mM, Crocin 1.5 mM, and for co-treatment Lithium 1 mM and Crocin 1 mM) for 7 days. The Real-Time PCR results indicated an increasing in expression of BDNF and GDNF in treated cells as compared with control ( 0.05, 0.01 and 0.001). The results in this study confirmed and supported the neuroprotective/neurogenesis effects of Lithium and Crocin. It also showed that the proposed protocol could be used to increase EPI-NCSCs differentiation potential into neural cells in cell therapy and combination therapy of neurodegenerative diseases.
神经退行性疾病是无法治愈且使人衰弱的病症，会导致神经细胞进行性退化。由于神经退行性疾病病情复杂，包括细胞疗法和药物疗法在内的联合疗法作为一种新的治疗策略很重要。表皮神经嵴干细胞（EPI-NCSCs）是各种神经疾病细胞治疗的最佳选择之一。在本研究中，考虑到碳酸锂和藏红花素对细胞信号通路的影响及其神经保护特性，研究了它们对EPI-NCSCs中神经营养因子BDNF和GDNF表达的影响。从毛囊中分离出EPI-NCSCs，并用不同浓度的药物[锂、藏红花素以及锂+藏红花素]处理72小时。然后，通过MTT试验选择试验浓度。用选定浓度（锂1 mM、藏红花素1.5 mM，联合处理时锂1 mM和藏红花素1 mM）处理细胞7天。实时PCR结果表明，与对照组相比，处理后的细胞中BDNF和GDNF的表达增加（P<0.05、P<0.01和P<0.001）。本研究结果证实并支持了锂和藏红花素的神经保护/神经发生作用。研究还表明，所提出的方案可用于在神经退行性疾病的细胞治疗和联合治疗中提高EPI-NCSCs向神经细胞的分化潜能。
