Branched chain amino acids improve mesenchymal stem cell proliferation, reducing NFκB expression and modulating some inflammatory properties
Talita Sartori Nutrition 4 July 2020,
Highlights
• BCAA increases S/G2/M cell cycle phases of Mesenchymal Stem cells.
• BCAA supplementation modulates the synthesis of TGF-β and PGE2.
• BCAA modulates the transcription factor NFκB and PPAR-γ of Mesenchymal Stem cells.
• BCAA supplementation was able to expand the modulating capacity of Mesenchymal Stem cells.
The essential branched chain amino acids (BCAA) valine, leucine and isoleucine, are widely studied due to their effects on immunity and metabolism.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a type of cell also studied due to their immunomodulatory properties. Since both BCAA and MSCs have immunomodulatory capacity, the objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of BCAA on some immunomodulatory aspects of MSCs. MSCs were cultivated in BCAA-supplemented media in order to evaluate the metabolic activity; cell cycle; PCNA, PGC1-α, c-Myc, PPAR-γ, NFκB, and STAT-3 expression. Additionally, some inflammatory mediators´ synthesis, such as IL1-β, IL-10, GM-CSF, TGF-β, NO and PGE2 were also evaluated.
Supplementation with BCAA led not only to increased MSCs proliferation with more cells in the S, G2 and M cycle phases, but also to increased metabolic activity. BCAA supplementation also altered the immunomodulatory capacity of MSCs by decreasing the p-NFкB/NFкB and increasing the p-STAT-3/STAT-3 gene expression ratios, in addition to increasing synthesis of the anti-inflammatory mediators TGF-β and PGE2.
Finally, MSCs cultivated in BCAA-supplemented media was shown to decrease the IL6 and TNF-α production by macrophages.
In conclusion, BCAA supplementation affected some immunoregulatory aspects of MSCs.