Over expression of Nrf2 in Umbilical Cord-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Up regulates Cytoprotective Genes, TXNRD1 and GCLC

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are ideal cells for cell and gene therapy. However, the low survival of MSCs after transplantation has limited their applications. We aimed to evaluate the expression of cytoprotective genes including NQO1, TXNRD1, HO-1, GCLC following the over expression of Nrf2 in umbilical cord-derived MSCs (UC-MSCs).Methods: 3-5 passages of UC-MSCs were cultured. Recombinant vector containing Nrf2 (pcDNA3.1-Nrf2) and empty vector were transfected into MSCs using FuGENE HD. After exposing the cells to UV light stress, RNA extraction and cDNA generation were performed. Using Primer3, software specific primers were designed for Nrf2, NQO1, TXNRD1, HO-1, and GCLC genes and the expression of these genes was evaluated by RT-PCR. The results were semi-quantified and analyzed statistically utilizing Image J2x software and ANOVA test.Results: The expression of Nrf2 was up-regulated in UC-MSCs after transfection with pcDNA3.1-Nrf2 (P 0.01). Over expression of TXNRD1 and GCLC were also confirmed in these transfected cells (P 0.05 and P 0.01, respectively). However, expression of NQO1 and HO-1 did not alter in the transfected cells with pcDNA3.1-Nrf2 compared with those transfected with empty vector (P 0.05).Conclusion: Over expression of Nrf2 resulted in the over expression of TXNRD1 and GCLC in MSCs and might be explained by the fact that a known part of Nrf2 cytoprotective mechanisms is controlled by the expression of these genes.Keywords: Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Over-expression, Nrf2, TXNRD1, GCLCKeywords: Educational games, Computer games, Self-Efficacy, Hemophilia.