Cytotoxic effects of acrylonitrile on human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in vitro

Abstract

The effects of acrylonitrile (ACN) on human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) remain unknown. The proliferation, differentiation, clonogenicity and apoptosis effects of ACN and/or N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) on hUC-MSCs were investigated. The results showed that although ACN at a concentration of 0.1 μg/ml did not affect proliferation or the morphology of hUC-MSCs compared with the control, osteogenic differentiation and the positive rate of alkaline phosphatase staining in the experimental group were significantly lower compared with the control (P<0.01). All of the effects of ACN were counteracted using NAC, a typical antioxidant. Using a flow cytometry assay, it was observed that ACN induced apoptosis in hUC-MSCs. The results indicated that the toxic effect produced by ACN on hUC-MSCs is based on a redox mechanism.