Environmental Benzopyrene Attenuates Stemness of Placenta-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells via Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor

Figure 2

The effect of BP on placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cell (PD-MSC) activity. (a) PD-MSCs were cultured with 1 μM BP for 7 days. Growth activity was measured using WST-based EZ-CYTOX at days 3 and 7, respectively. The data are expressed as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. . (b) Senescence was confirmed by β-galactosidase staining after long-term culture (4 weeks). One representative of three independent experiments is shown (scale bar, 200 μm; magnification, 100x). The number of β-galactosidase-stained cells was enumerated. The data are expressed as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. . (c) Immunostaining was performed to evaluate apoptosis and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) expression in PD-MSCs cultured with 1 μM BP for 7 days (scale bar, 20 μm; magnification, 200x). One representative of 3 independent experiments is shown. (d) RT-PCR analysis of 1 μM BP-treated PD-MSCs for 7 days revealed enhanced mRNA expression of caspase-3. The data are expressed as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)