Proliferation-related changes in K⁺ content in human mesenchymal stem cells

Intracellular monovalent ions have been shown to be important for cell proliferation, however, mechanisms through which ions regulate cell proliferation is not well understood. Ion transporters may be implicated in the intracellular signaling: Na⁺ and Cl^- participate in regulation of intracellular pH, transmembrane potential, Ca²⁺ homeostasis. Recently, it is has been suggested that K⁺ may be involved in "the pluripotency signaling network". Our study has been focused on the relations between K⁺ transport and stem cell proliferation. We compared monovalent cation transport in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) at different passages and at low and high densities of culture as well as during stress-induced cell cycle arrest and revealed a decline in K⁺ content per cell protein which was associated with accumulation of G1 cells in population and accompanied cell proliferation slowing. It is suggested that cell K⁺ may be important for successful cell proliferation as the main intracellular ion that participates in regulation of cell volume during cell cycle progression. It is proposed that cell K⁺ content as related to cell protein is a physiological marker of stem cell proliferation and may be used as an informative test for assessing the functional status of stem cells in vitro.