# Evaluation of the Interaction Between Wharton’s Jelly-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells and β-Mercaptoethanol

## TL;DR

This study examines how β-mercaptoethanol affects the neuronal differentiation potential of Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

## Contribution

The study evaluates BME's effects on WJ-MSCs at a low dose to minimize toxicity while promoting neuronal differentiation.

## Key findings

- BME increased nestin and NF-L expression in WJ-MSCs within the first hour.
- Flow cytometry confirmed elevated nestin levels after one hour of BME exposure.
- Early changes in markers suggest potential for neuronal differentiation without high-dose toxicity.

## Abstract

Purpose: Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) are self-regenerative and able to differentiate into multipotent stem cells. There may be different sources of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) involved in the repair mechanism of damaged tissues in the organism. WJ-MSCs may differentiate into osteocytes, chondrocytes, adipocytes, and myocyte cells. Furthermore, MSCs show neuroprotective effects on neurons. Today, many MSC neuroregenerative treatments have been shown to be effective. Studies have shown that MSCs are more involved in paracrine effects due to their neuroprotective effect in multiple diseases such as multiple sclerosis, acute spinal cord injury and encephalomyelitis. The main aim of this study was to investigate the neuronal markers of stem cells after incubation with β-mercaptoethanol (BME).

Materials and methods: In our study, WJ-MSCs were thawed in a water bath at 37°C and cultivated in cell culture dishes. When the cell occupancy rate reached 60-70%, they were treated with 2 mM BME. At the first and third hours, MSCs were removed from the dishes, and flow cytometry and immunostaining revealed that BME's nestin, neuron filament light (NF-L), SOX1, SOX2, doublecortin (DCX), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), Ki67, and CD44 were evaluated.

Results: Immunocytochemically, nestin and NF-L values ​​of MSCs exposed to BME increased at the first hour. In the flow cytometric evaluation, it was observed that nestin was high in the first hour.

Conclusion: One of our aims in this study was to reduce the possible toxic side effects of BME for MSCs by exposing the BME used in previous studies at the minimum dose for neuronal differentiation. In our study, we showed first-hour changes similar to the neuronal differentiation obtained with pre- and post-induction in other studies.