Clinic for Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, School of Dental Medicine, Christian-Albrecht's University, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
Oral Medicine and Periodontology Department, Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 12613, Egypt.
Cells. 2022 Apr 25;11(9):1452. doi: 10.3390/cells11091452.
Thymoquinone (TQ), the key active component of Nigella sativa (NS), demonstrates very promising biomedical anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer properties. Several investigations have inspected the modulative activities of TQ on different stem/progenitor cell types, but its possible role in the regulation of gingival mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells (G-MSCs) has not yet been characterized. For the first time, this study investigates the effects of TQ on G-MSCs’ stemness and Toll-like receptor expression profiles. G-MSCs (n = 5) were isolated, sorted via anti-STRO-1 antibodies and then disseminated on cell culture dishes to create colony-forming units (CFUs), and their stem/progenitor cell attributes were characterized. TQ stimulation of the G-MSCs was performed, followed by an examination of the expression of pluripotency-related factors using RT-PCR and the expression profiles of TLRs 1−10 using flowcytometry, and they were compared to a non-stimulated control group. The G-MSCs presented all the predefined stem/progenitor cells’ features. The TQ-activated G-MSCs displayed significantly higher expressions of TLR3 and NANOG with a significantly reduced expression of TLR1 (p < 0.05, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). TQ-mediated stimulation preserves G-MSCs’ pluripotency and facilitates a cellular shift into an immunocompetent-differentiating phenotype through increased TLR3 expression. This characteristic modulation might impact the potential therapeutic applications of G-MSCs.
姜酮（TQ）是黑种草（NS）的关键活性成分，具有非常有前景的生物医学抗炎、抗氧化、抗菌和抗癌特性。一些研究已经研究了 TQ 对不同干细胞/祖细胞类型的调节活性，但它在调节牙龈间充质干细胞/祖细胞（G-MSCs）中的作用尚未得到表征。本研究首次探讨了 TQ 对 G-MSCs 干性和 Toll 样受体表达谱的影响。分离 G-MSCs（n = 5），通过抗 STRO-1 抗体进行分选，然后铺板培养以形成集落形成单位（CFUs），并对其干细胞/祖细胞特性进行了鉴定。用 TQ 刺激 G-MSCs，然后使用 RT-PCR 检测多能性相关因子的表达，使用流式细胞术检测 TLRs 1-10 的表达谱，并与未经刺激的对照组进行比较。G-MSCs 表现出所有预先定义的干细胞/祖细胞特征。TQ 激活的 G-MSCs 显示 TLR3 和 NANOG 的表达显著升高，而 TLR1 的表达显著降低（p < 0.05，Wilcoxon 符号秩检验）。TQ 介导的刺激通过增加 TLR3 的表达，保留 G-MSCs 的多能性，并促进细胞向具有免疫功能的分化表型转变。这种特征性的调节可能会影响 G-MSCs 的潜在治疗应用。
