Carnosol promotes endothelial differentiation under H2O2-induced oxidative stress

Abstract

Oxidative stress causes deregulation of endothelial cell differentiation. Carnosol is a potent antioxidant and antiinflammatory compound. In the present study, we examined whether the antioxidant effect of carnosol might protect bone marrow stem cells against H 2 O 2 -induced oxidative stress and promote endothelial differentiation. We examined cell viability by the MTT assay; oxidative stress and apoptosis were analyzed through changes in ROS levels, apoptotic ratio and caspase-3 activity; changes in protein expression of OCT-4, Flk-1, CD31 and Nrf-2 were assessed by Western blot analysis. H 2 O 2 treatment increased oxidative stress and reduced cell viability, while the stem cell marker OCT-4 and endothelial markers Flk-1, CD31 were significantly downregulated as a result of the treatment with H 2 O 2 . Treatment with carnosol improved the antioxidant status, increased OCT-4 expression and promoted endothelial differentiation. This study provides evidence that carnosol could increase the antioxidant defense mechanism and promote endothelial differentiation.

Role of Terpenophenolics in Modulating Inflammation and Apoptosis in Cardiovascular Diseases: A Review

“…In the laboratory setting, carnosol has been proven to exert a cardioprotective effect by increasing the cell viability of H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells in the presence of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) [ 49 ]. This result is consistent with a previous study by Ou et al [ 50 ], which revealed that carnosol improved the viability of rats’ multipotent progenitor cells (MAPCs) induced by hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ).…”