Cytotoxic roles of apigenin and kaempferol on staurosporine-treated mesenchymal stem cells in an in vitro culture
Abstract
Introduction: Flavonoids are widely distributed in the wild. They constitute a large group of compounds
that have a beneficial effect on the human body. Apigenin and kaempferol, which belong to the flavone subgroup,
have, inter alia, an antitumor effect. The influence of these compounds on the survival of stem cells
in a toxic environment has not yet been studied.
Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of selected concentrations of apigenin and kaempferol
on the survival of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in the presence of a cell-death inducer – staurosporine.
Methods: Mesenchymal stem cells that were obtained from the Wharton’s jelly of umbilical cords were used
for the research. In the first stage, the MSC were treated with apigenin at concentrations of 1.2, 12.5, 25, 50
and 100 μM/ml and kaempferol at concentrations of 1.2, 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 μM/ml. In the next stage, the
effect of increased concentrations of 0.1, 0.5 and 1 μM/ml of staurosporine on MSC was examined. The key
stage of the experiment was investigating the interaction between the selected concentrations of apigenin
(12.5 and 50 μM/ml) and kaempferol (12.5 and μM/ml) on MSC in the presence of staurosporine at a concentration
of 1 μM/ml, which had the highest toxicity.
Results: Both apigenin and kaempferol significantly increased the cytotoxic features of staurosporine on
the MSC culture.