EVALUATION OF PLATINUM NANOPARTICLES EFFECTS ON CELL CYCLE AND EXPRESSION OF SOX2 AND OCT-4 GENES IN MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS

The Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) are a population of widely used cells in cell/gene therapy which are necessary to maintain their stemness properties to guarantee their proper function in medical applications. Platinum nanoparticles are one of the materials that have various applications in the medical world. The aim of this work was to evaluate platinum nanoparticles effect on MSCs cell cycle and Oct-4 and Sox-2 expression in vitro.

In this experimental study, after the synthesis of platinum nanoparticles, their dynamic shape and size were checked by TEM and their charge by DLS test. Then, the culture of mesenchymal stem cells and their survival after treatment with platinum nanoparticles (pt) were investigated. In addition, the expression levels of Sox-2 and Oct-4 genes were evaluated in cells treated with nanoparticles. Also, the effects of platinum nanoparticles on cell cycle and colony formation in stem cells were evaluated. Statistical analyzes were performed with Graph Pad Prism version 10 software. The significance level was defined as p<0.05.

Based on the obtained results, the morphology of spherical nanoparticles and their size was 180 nm and their charge was +25.8. Cytotoxicity test showed that the effects of these nanoparticles on cells are dose and time dependent. Also, in the presence of platinum, the cell cycle of stem cells underwent many changes, especially the increase in the percentage of cells in the S phase. Real-time PCR results showed that in the presence of platinum nanoparticles, there is a decrease in Sox-2 and Oct4 gene expression, which has led to a decrease in the stemness properties of mesenchymal stem cells. Also, their clonogenic potential was also weakened.

We concluded that due to the possible negative effects of platinum nanoparticles on the stemness of MSCs, platinum nanoparticles should be used with caution in long-term medical applications. Therefore, it is suggested to reduce the dose, frequency and duration of using platinum nanoparticles as much as possible.