Effects of stromal-derived factor 1 preconditioning on apoptosis of rat bone mesenchymal stem cells

The effects of stromal-derived factor 1 preconditioning (PC) on apoptosis of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) treated with hypoxia plus serum deprivation were investigated. Bone mesenchymal stem cells were cultured with the whole marrow-adherence technique. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of CXCR4. BMSCs were incubated in medium for 24 h with 10 ng/mL and 100 ng/mL SDF-1 respectively, and then they were treated with hypoxia plus serum deprivation for 6 h. Apoptosis rate was determined by flow cytometry and TUNEL method. The results showed that BMSCs had CXCR4 expression. The number of apoptotic cells was significantly reduced in SDF-1 PC group as compared with the control group, and 100 ng/mL SDF-1 PC group had the lowest level of apoptosis. It was concluded that SDF-1 preconditioning suppresses the apoptosis of BMSCs treated with hypoxia plus serum deprivation.