Evaluation of Umbilical- Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell Secretome on Human Keratinocyte Cell Cytoprotection Against H2O2 and UVB-Induced Aging

Abstract

Umbilical-cord mesenchymal stem cell (UC-MSC) secretome have been newly developed and analyzed for their role in various therapeutic applications. The use of UC-MSC secretome poses several advantages due to its cell-free composition and minimally invasive sourcing of the UC-MSC. UC-MSC secretome have also been found to have higher concentrations of angiogenesis growth factors alongside other biomaterials such as DNA, microRNA, collagen, and enzymes, which may pose a role in preventing and treating skin aging. Aging refers to a decrease in the structure and function of the skin, and in laboratory setting could be simulated using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and excessive UVB radiation. One of Indonesia’s leading pharmaceutical companies, PT Kalbe Farma, has produced UC-MSC secretome and in this research, the cytoprotective ability of the product was analyzed as a pre-treatment for human keratinocytes (HaCaT) cell exposed to aging inducers, specifically H2O2 and UVB radiation. Protein characteristic study was done prior to the cell-based assay through total protein quantification and molecular weight analysis. Result shows that total protein content of the UC-MSC secretome is 9.3 μg/mL. Protein bands that were seen in molecular weight migration analysis could indicate presence of collagen and fibronectin, both has the ability in increasing cell proliferation and improved cell survival. Pre-treatment of HaCaT cells with UC-MSC secretome failed to protect the cells from the UVB radiation and was found to reduce the cytoprotective ability of HaCaT upon H2O2 treatment.