Evaluating the Differential Effects of Valproic Acid on Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells

The histone deacetylases (HDAC) inhibitor, valproic acid (VPA), is a commonantiepileptic drug and is attractive for its broad range of therapeutic effects on many diseases. Ithas been employed as an inducer of pluripotency in some cultured cells. Conversely, VPA hasalso been employed as an inducer of in vitro differentiation in many other cells. Therefore, weemployed WJMSCs as a cellular target to evaluate the differential effects of of VPA on potencystate and differentiation level of Wharton’s Jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJMSCs) in variousconcentrations and different culture mediums. The isolated WJMSCs were cultured in DMEM (MSC medium). According to previousprotocols, WJMSCs were treated with 0, 0.5 and 1 mM VPA in MSC or embryonic stem cell (ESC)medium and 2 mM VPA in neural differentiation medium. Real-time polymerase chain reaction(PCR) and western blot analysis were performed for evaluating the expression of pluripotencymarkers. MTT and caspase assays were also performed on VPA-treated cells. The expression of pluripotency markers and the viability of the WJMSCs – determinedby MTT assay – were significantly increased after 0.5 mM VPA treatment in ESC medium. A 2mM VPA treatment in neural differentiation medium significantly diminished the expression ofpluripotency markers and the viability of WJMSCs. According to our results, both VPA concentration and the medium context caninfluence VPA effects on WJMSCs. The differential effects of VPA on WJMSCs can reflect its widerange of effects in the treatment of various diseases.