BIO treatment enhances rat marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell in vitro proliferation and viability

Introduction: Previous investigations have indicated that the presence of BIO (6-Bromoindirubin-3-Oxime) in medium of some cell culture enhances the cell proliferation and viability. The aim of the present study was to investigate the BIO effects on in vitro expansion of rat marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) culture. Methods: In the present experimental study, bone marrow cells from 7 rats were plated in the presence of 0.05, 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 1.5 µM of BIO and expanded through three successive subcultures. During the cultivation period, the cultures were statistically compared in terms of some indices of cell growth including the diameter and number of colonies, population doubling number (PDN) and the number of viable cells. Passaged-3 cells from all groups were examined whether or not they could differentiate into bone and adipose cells. Results: According to our results, the largest colonies were formed in the cultures with 0.1 and 1 µm BIO with diameter of respectively 1262.27±43.96 and 1335.71 ± 19.16 micrometer (P<0.05). These two groups were also superior in terms of the colonies numbers. During three successive passages, significantly more PDN was occurred in 0.1 and 1 µM BIO- treated cultures than the others (P<0.05). Additionally in these two BIO-treated cultures, the number of viable cells was significantly higher compared to other BIO-treated cultures as well as the control group (P<0.05). Alizarin red staining for bone and oil red for adipose cells indicated the differentiation potential of the cells in all studied groups Conclusion: Taken together it seems that the BIO presence in marrow cell cultures enhances the cell in vitro expansion and viability.