Role of mesenchymal stem cell-derived soluble factors and folic acid in wound healing

Abstract

Background/aim: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a type of adult stem cell consisting of a heterogeneous subset of stromal stemcells that can be isolated from adult tissues. Folic acid is another important contributor to tissue regeneration and repair, which affectsthe synthesis of some building block molecules used for wound healing. In this study, we examine the effect of folic acid and MSCderived soluble factors in the wound healing model.Materials and methods: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMSCs) were culturedfor this study. Cell proliferation analysis was done with xCELLigence RTCA. After 48 h of cultivation, the cell culture medium wascollected as MSC conditional medium containing mesenchymal stem cell-derived soluble factors (MDFs). Different concentrations ofMDFs (12%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were applied to the HUVEC cell line. Folic acid (25, 30, 50, 60, 75, 90, and 100 µM) was testedby application of three different groups (control, 25 µM folic acid, 625 µM folic acid inhibitors) for proliferation on the HUVEC cell line.The combined effects of folic acid and MDFs were tested on the HUVEC cell line with 25 µM folic acid and 50 µM MDFs. All data werestatistically analyzed using SPSS 15.0 for Windows.Results: Significant differences were observed between controls and cells treated with folic acid, as well as between controls and bothfolic acid and MDFs (P < 0.05). Among the treated groups, the fastest wound closure rate was seen in cells treated with both folic acidand MDFs.Conclusion: The results show that both folic acid and MDFs increased the wound healing rate in HUVECs when they were used separately. The strongest benefits were seen in treatment using folic acid and MDFs together.