Xuebin B. Yang

The ability to control stem cell function is the key to stem cell-based therapy and living tissue regeneration. In natural conditions, histone deacetylases (HDAC) are regarded as the important defining epigenetic reprogramming for stem cell differentiation. To date, human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) have been widely utilised for bone tissue engineering applications. The present study aimed to examine the effect of a novel HDAC2&3-selective inhibitor, MI192, on hADSCs epigenetic reprogramming for regulating its osteogenic potential in vitro. The results confirmed that MI192 treatment reduced the hADSCs viability in a time and dose-dependent manner. The optimal concentration and pre-treatment time of MI192 for hADSCs osteogenic induction was 30 μM and 2 days representatively. A quantitative biochemical assay confirmed that the pre-treatment with MI192 (30 μM) for 2 days significantly enhanced hADSCs alkaline phosphatase (ALP) specific activity (P<0.05) compared with that of the valproic acid (VPA) pre-treatment group. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that MI192 pre-treatment up-regulated hADSCs gene expressions of osteogenic markers (e.g., Runx2, Col1, and OCN) under the osteogenic induction. DNA flow cytometric analysis indicated that two days’ pre-treatment with MI192 (30 μM) resulted in G2/M arrest in hADSCs and this G2/M arrest was reversible. Our results suggest that MI192 is capable of epigenetic reprogramming of hADSCs via HDAC inhibition for controlling the cell cycle, resulting in enhancing hADSCs osteogenic differentiation, which indicates the potential of using MI192 for promoting bone tissue regeneration.