Hydrogen Boosts Stem Cell Muscle Growth and Reduces Drug Side Effects
- Authors
- Wenyong Fei, Erkai Pang, Lei Hou, Jihang Dai, Mingsheng Liu, Xuanqi Wang, Bin Xie, Jingcheng Wang
- Journal
- International Journal of Stem Cells
- Year
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.15283/ijsc21238
- Study Type
- Cell Culture
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Body System
- Musculoskeletal
TL;DR
Adding hydrogen to a drug called 5-Aza helps fat-derived stem cells turn into muscle cells more effectively by activating a specific cell signaling pathway.
Key Finding
Hydrogen combined with 5-Aza synergistically enhanced muscle cell development from fat-derived stem cells by activating the p38 MAPK signaling pathway while reducing the toxic effects of 5-Aza alone.
Summary
Researchers tested whether hydrogen gas combined with a chemical called 5-Aza could help fat-derived stem cells develop into muscle cells in a laboratory dish. They found that hydrogen and 5-Aza together increased cell growth, boosted the production of muscle-related proteins, and activated a specific cellular pathway (p38 MAPK) that controls muscle development. Hydrogen also reduced harmful effects from 5-Aza alone.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage laboratory study in cells, not humans, so it cannot yet inform real-world use. The findings suggest hydrogen may have potential in stem cell therapies for muscle diseases, but many steps of research—including animal studies and human trials—would be needed before any clinical application. The study does not provide evidence that hydrogen water would have similar effects in the human body.
Abstract
Background and objectives: This study aims to clarify the systems underlying regulation and regulatory roles of hydrogen combined with 5-Aza in the myogenic differentiation of adipose mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs). Methods and results: In this study, ADSCs acted as an in vitro myogenic differentiating mode. First, the Alamar blue Staining and mitochondrial tracer technique were used to verify whether hydrogen combined with 5-Aza could promote cell proliferation. In addition, this study assessed myogenic differentiating markers (e.g., Myogenin, Mhc and Myod protein expressions) based on the Western blotting assay, analysis on cellular morphological characteristics (e.g., Myotube number, length, diameter and maturation index), RT-PCR (Myod, Myogenin and Mhc mRNA expression) and Immunofluorescence analysis (Desmin, Myosin and β-actin protein expression). Finally, to verify the mechanism of myogenic differentiation of hydrogen-bound 5-Aza, we performed bioinformatics analysis and Western blot to detect the expression of p-P38 protein. Hydrogen combined with 5-Aza significantly enhanced the proliferation and myogenic differentiation of ADSCs in vitro by increasing the number of single-cell mitochondria and upregulating the expression of myogenic biomarkers such as Myod, Mhc and myotube formation. The expressions of p-P38 was up-regulated by hydrogen combined with 5-Aza. The differentiating ability was suppressed when the cells were cultivated in combination with SB203580 (p38 MAPK signal pathway inhibitor). Conclusions: Hydrogen alleviates the cytotoxicity of 5-Aza and synergistically promotes the myogenic differentiation capacity of adipose stem cells via the p38 MAPK pathway. Thus, the mentioned results present insights into myogenic differentiation and are likely to generate one potential alternative strategy for skeletal muscle related diseases. Keywords: 5-Azacitidin (5-Aza); Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells; Hydrogen; Myogenic differentiation; P38 MAPK signaling pathway.