3,2'-Dihydroxyflavone-Treated Pluripotent Stem Cells Show Enhanced Proliferation, Pluripotency Marker Expression, and...

Efficient maintenance of the undifferentiated status of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) may be important for preparation of high-quality cell sources that can be successfully used for stem cell research and therapy. Here we tried to identify a compound that can enhance the quality of pluripotent stem cells. Treatment of ESCs and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with 3,2'-dihydroxyflavone (3,2'-DHF) led to increases in cell growth, colony formation, and cell proliferation. Treatment with 3,2'-DHF resulted in high expression of pluripotency markers (OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG) and significant activation (STAT3 and AKT) or suppression (GSK3β and ERK) of self-renewal-related kinases. 3,2'-DHF-treated high-quality pluripotent stem cells also showed enhanced differentiation potential. In particular, treatment of iPSCs with 3,2'-DHF led to elevated expression of ectodermal differentiation markers and improved differentiation into fully matured neurons. Next, we investigated the in vivo effect of 3,2'-DHF-pretreated iPSCs (3,2'-DHF iPSCs) in a peripheral nerve injury model and found that transplantation of 3,2'-DHF iPSCs resulted in more efficient axonal regeneration and functional recovery than in controls. Upon histopathological and gene expression analyses, we found that transplantation of 3,2'-DHF iPSCs stimulated expression of cytokines, such as TNF-α, in the early phase of injury and successfully reduced convalescence time of the injured peripheral nerve, showing an effective neuroprotective property. Taken together, our data suggest that 3,2'-DHF can be used for more efficient maintenance of pluripotent stem cells as well as for further applications in stem cell research and therapy.