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Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering

Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering - Poster Session C

Poster I4 - Long Term Effects of Senolytics in Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells

Friday, October 25, 2024

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EST

Location: Exhibit Hall E, F & G

Presenting Author(s)

Katherine Comer, 2025 Graduate (she/her/hers)

student
Hanover College
Indianapolis , Indiana, United States

Co-Author(s)

David Heinrichs

PHD student
University of Arkansas, United States

Primary Investigator(s)

Rebekah Margaret Samsonraj, PhD

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
University of Arkansas, United States

Introduction: Senescent cells undergo irreversible morphological changes that make them unable to proliferate or differentiate. These cells are resistant to apoptosis, and they inhibit cell proliferation on nonsenescent cells. Within research for stem cell therapies and regenerative medicine, senescent cells will develop over time and reduce potency of healthy cells and the efficacy of stem cell treatments. Senolytics, namely dasatinib and quercetin, can be optimized to treat cells and induce apoptosis to selectively remove senescent cells. We hypothesize that treating MSC populations with senolytics will reduce their heterogeneity and yield improved potency for cellular functions without significantly diminishing the function of nonsenescent cells.

Materials and

Methods: Previously collected pilot data allowed us to determine the optimal dilutions of dasatinib and quercetin. The two drugs were administered to samples alongside adipogenic differentiation treatment for multiple weeks. RT-qPCR data, adipogenic staining, and SAβgal staining all supported that senolytics dasatinib and quercetin demonstrated significant changes in culture heterogeneity when optimized to use as a long-term treatment.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: The senolytic treatment effectively removed senescent cells from each sample, and it did not have any major impact on the cellular functions or adipogenic differentiation abilities of the remaining, healthy cells. These results help confirm recent postulations on the efficacy of senolytics as a treatment against senescence and senescence-related disorders, offer more data to the expanding field of stem cell cultures and therapies, and can be applied to further research in senolytic drug optimization and regenerative medicine.

Acknowledgements (Optional): We would like to acknowledge the sponsor for this REU program: the National Science Foundation (Grant: EWFD 2243953).