Dose-dependent Effect of Boric Acid on Myogenic Differentiation of Human Adipose-derived Stem Cells (hADSCs)

Boron, a vital micronutrient for plant metabolism, is not fully elucidated for embryonic and adult body development, and tissue regeneration. Although optimized amount of boron supplement has been shown to be essential for normal gestational development in zebrafish and frog and beneficial for bone regeneration in higher animals, effects of boron on myogenesis and myo-regeneration remains to be solved. In the current study, we investigated dose-dependent activity of boric acid on myogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) using immunocytochemical, gene, and protein expression analysis. The results revealed that while low- (81.9 μM) and high-dose (819.6 μM) boron treatment increased myogenic gene expression levels such as myosin heavy chain (MYH), MyoD, myogenin, and desmin at day 4 of differentiation, high-dose treatment decreased myogenic-related gene and protein levels at day 21 of differentiation, confirmed by immunocytochemical analysis. The findings of the study present not only an understanding of boron's effect on myogenic differentiation but also an opportunity for the development of scaffolds to be used in skeletal tissue engineering and supplements for embryonic muscle growth. However, fine dose tuning and treatment period arranging are highly warranted as boron treatment over required concentrations and time might result in detrimental outcomes to myogenesis and myo-regeneration.