The Protective Effect of Crocin on Rat Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Exposed  to Aluminum Chloride as an Endocrine Disruptor

Elaheh Amini; Zahra  Baharvand; Azadeh  Niknejad; Yasaman  Tabari; Sahel  Shemshadi

doi:10.18502/ajmb.v16i2.14858

Elaheh Amini Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
Zahra Baharvand Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Azadeh Niknejad Department of Cellular & Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
Yasaman Tabari Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Science and Culture, Royan Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
Sahel Shemshadi Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Julius-Maximilians-University, Würzburg, Germany

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ajmb.v16i2.14858

Keywords: Aluminum chloride, Animals, Cadherins, Crocus, Oxidative stress, Rats

Abstract

Background: Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) have the ability to self-renew and proliferate which gives them healing properties in various tissues. Aluminium chloride (AlCl₃) is a chemical compound with harmful effects on health; oxidative stress caused by Aluminium has been reported previously. Crocin, a major component of Crocus sativus (saffron), has antioxidant properties and has shown therapeutic potential. Researchers have been looking for ways to reduce the harmful effects of AlCl₃.

Methods: To investigate whether crocin can reduce AlCl₃ cytotoxicity, rat Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BM-MSCs) were isolated, cultured and divided into four experimental groups. The first group was the control, which was untreated cells. The second and third groups were treated with crocin (50, 100, 250, 500 µM) and AlCl₃ (20, 25, 30 mM) for 24 hr. The fourth group was pre-treated with crocin (250, 500 µM) for 24 hr and then treated with AlCl₃ (20 mM) overnight. Cytotoxicity was assessed using the MTT assay. Mineralization was evaluated by alizarin red staining. Sox-2 and E-cadherin expression were measured using real-time PCR.

Results: The results showed that AlCl₃ caused cytotoxicity on BM-MSCs and decreased the mRNA expression of Sox-2 and E-cadherin, which are important for the maintenance of self-renewal and proliferation of BM-MSCs. In contrast, crocin protected the self-renewal characteristic of BM-MSCs by increasing Sox-2 expression and also preserved the proliferative effects on BM-MSCs by upregulating E-cadherin expression (***p≤0.001).

Conclusion: Overall, the study suggests that crocin can protect BM-MSCs from AlCl₃-induced cytotoxicity by upregulate Sox-2 expression and E-cadherin expression. This suggests that crocin may be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of AlCl₃-induced toxicity.