Abstract:

Purpose: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have been shown neuro-protective effects in several disease models. However, no studies have examined whether gender influences the neuro-protective effects of BMSCs. Here, we explore the different neuro-protective effects of BMSCs due to gender source against hypoxia-induced apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs).
Methods: BMSCs was cultured from female and male juvenile rats by gradient density centrifugation and identified. The retinal tissues of newborn rats were prepared with enzymatic digestion to acquire primary RGCs. The RGCs were then co-cultured across a membrane insert with BMSCs in the transwell system under hypoxia injury. Cell apoptosis was detected using AnnexinV-FITC/PI assays and caspase-3 activity assay.
Results: Our experiments demonstrated that there were marked increases in the percentage of apoptotic RGCs and the caspase-3 activity after 24 h under hypoxia condition compared with that under the normoxia condition (P < 0.05). When co-cultured with both female BMSCs and male BMSCs under hypoxic condition, the percentage of apoptotic RGCs and the caspase-3 activity had significant decreases compared with that when culture alone (both P < 0.05), and had a significant difference between the female BMSCs and male BMSCs (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Our results indicated that BMSCs have neuro-protective effects against hypoxia-induced apoptosis of RGCs, and female BMSCs have a greater neuro-protective ability compared with male BMSCs. A further understanding of the cellular biology underlying these differences may contribute to the development of new therapeutic strategies for neurological repair and regeneration.