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  • Title: Atorvastatin induces autophagy of mesenchymal stem cells under hypoxia and serum deprivation conditions by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway.
    Author: Li N, Zhang Q, Qian H, Jin C, Yang Y, Gao R.
    Journal: Chin Med J (Engl); 2014; 127(6):1046-51. PubMed ID: 24622432.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: The survival ratio of implanted mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the infarcted myocardium is low. Autophagy is a complex "self-eating" process and can be utilized for cell survival. We have found that atorvastatin (ATV) can effectively activate autophagy to enhance MSCs survival during hypoxia and serum deprivation (H/SD). The mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK/ERK) pathway is a non-canonical autophagy pathway. We hypothesized that the MEK/ERK pathway mediated ATV-induced autophagy of MSCs under H/SD. METHODS: MSCs were pretreated with ATV (0.01-10 µmol/L) under H/SD for three hours. For inhibitor studies, the cells were pre-incubated with the MEK1/2 inhibitor U0126. Cell autophagy was assessed by acidic vesicular organelles (AVO)-positive cells using flow cytometry, autophagy related protein using Western blotting and autophagosome using transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: Autophagy was elevated in the H/SD group compared with the normal group. ATV further enhanced the autophagic activity as well as the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 evidenced by more AVO-positive cells ((8.63 ± 0.63)% vs. (5.77 ± 0.44)%, P < 0.05), higher LC3-II/LC3-I ratio (4.36 ± 0.31 vs. 2.52 ± 0.18, P < 0.05) and more autophagosomes. And treatment with U0126 downregulated the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and attenuated ATV-induced autophagy. CONCLUSION: The MEK/ERK pathway participates in ATV-induced autophagy in MSCs under H/SD, and modulation of the pathway could be a novel strategy to improve MSCs survival.
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