Several techniques have been devised for the dissociation of tissues for primary culture. These techniques can affect the quantity and quality of the isolated cells. The aim of our study was to develop the most appropriate method for the isolation of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal (hUCM) cells. In the present study, we compared four methods for the isolation of hUCM cells: three enzymatic methods; collagenase/hyaluronidase/trypsin (CHT), collagenase/trypsin (CT) and trypsin (Trp), and an explant culture (Exp) method. The trypan blue dye exclusion test, the water-soluble tetrazolium salt-1 (WST-1) assay, flow cytometry, alkaline phosphatase activity and histochemical staining were used to evaluate the results of the different methods. The hUCM cells were successfully isolated by all methods but the isolation method used profoundly altered the cell number and proliferation capacity of the isolated cells. The cells were successfully differentiated into adipogenic and osteogenic lineages and alkaline phosphatase activity was detected in the hUCM cell colonies of all groups. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that CD44, CD73, CD90 and CD105 were expressed in all groups, while CD34 and CD45 were not expressed. The expression of C-kit in the enzymatic groups was higher than in the explant group, while the expression of Oct-4 was higher in the CT group compared to the other groups. We concluded that the collagenase/trypsin method of cell isolation yields a higher cell density than the others. These cells expressed a higher rate of pluripotent cell markers such as C-kit and Oct-4, while the explant method of cell isolation resulted in a higher cell proliferation rate and activity compared to the other methods.

Background5-Azacytidine (5-AZA), a DNA methyl transferase inhibitor, is a clinically used epigenetic drug for cancer therapy. Recently, we have shown that 5-AZA upregulates ten-eleven translocation (TET) protein expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, which induce active demethylation. Vitamin C facilitates TET activity and enhances active demethylation. The aim of this study is to investigate whether vitamin C is able to enhance the effect of 5-AZA on active demethylation and to evaluate its consequence in HCC cell lines.MethodsHCC cell lines (Huh7 and HLE) were treated with 5-AZA and vitamin C. After 48 h of treatment, viability (resazurin conversion), toxicity (lactose dehydrogenase (LDH) release), and proliferation ((proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)) of single- and combined-treated cells were assessed. The effect of the treatment on 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) intensity (immunofluorescence (IF) staining), TET, Snail, GADD45B, and P21 mRNA (real-time PCR) and protein expression (Western blot) were investigated.ResultsOur results indicated that vitamin C enhances the anti-proliferative and apoptotic effect of 5-AZA in HCC cell lines. By further analyzing the events leading to cell cycle arrest, we have shown for the first time in HCC that the combination of 5-AZA and vitamin C leads to an enhanced downregulation of Snail expression, a key transcription factor governing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, and cell cycle arrest.ConclusionsWe conclude that when combined with 5-AZA, vitamin C enhances TET activity in HCC cells, leading to induction of active demethylation. An increase in P21 expression as a consequence of downregulation of Snail accompanied by the induction of GADD45B expression is the main mechanism leading to cell cycle arrest in HCCs.

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