L-carnitine in a certain concentration increases expression of cell surface marker CD34 and apoptosis in the rat bone marrow CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells

Stem cell based therapy has been encouraged as an attractive method in regenerative medicine. Poor survival and maintenance of the cells transferred into the damaged tissue are broadly accepted as serious barriers to enhancing the efficacy of regenerative medicine. For this reason, some antioxidants such as L-carnitine (LC) are used as a favorite strategy to improve cell survival and retention properties.

This study aims to evaluate the effect of LC on the expression of CD34 marker and its effect on apoptosis and SUZ12 gene expression.

Rat bone marrow mono-nuclear cells (rBMNCs) were isolated. Then, CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) were enriched using the magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) method. The cells were treated with 0.2 and 0.4 mM LC. Gene and protein expression levels of the CD34 were then measured by real-time PCR and flow cytometry, respectively. The percentage of apoptosis and SUZ12 gene expression were measured using the Annexin V/PI method and real-time PCR, respectively.

The results showed that in the experimental group, of the CD34+ HSCs treated with 0.2 mM LC, gene and protein expressions of CD34 increased by 1.7 fold and 0.49%, respectively. At the concentration of 0.4 mM, the early cell apoptosis increased by 25.9% (P<0.05). Also, in the concentration of 0.2 and 0.4 mM LC, the SUZ12 gene expression increased by 1.10 and 1.75 folds compared to the control group (P<0.05 and P<0.01), respectively.

The results of this study could be used to improve chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) as a multidirectional therapeutic strategy.