Stemazole promotes survival and preserves stemness in human embryonic stem cells

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are extremely delicate, and survive poorly under suboptimal culture conditions, severely restricting long-term studies and practical applications. Thus, a protective agent that promotes stem cell survival is urgently needed. In this study, we evaluated the protective effects of stemazole in single-cell and starved hESC cultures. Colony formation was quantified by alkaline phosphatase and immunofluorescence staining, while apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry and TUNEL assay. Expression of hESC and other stem cell markers was evaluated by western blot, RT-PCR, and qPCR. We found that stemazole enhanced clonal expansion from single cells in dose-dependent fashion and clearly decreased apoptosis from 54.1% to 25.2%. Furthermore, the drug reduced apoptosis from 43.6% to 8.4% over 15 h of starvation, with 66% of stemazole-treated cells remaining viable after 2 weeks of starvation. Importantly, starved cells protected with stemazole retained the same proliferation and differentiation properties as cells in normal culture. In conclusion, stemazole significantly promotes survival of stem cells in single-cell or starvation cultures without compromising stemness and pluripotency.