Transcriptome profile of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells with Reduced Senescence and Increased Trilineage Differentiation Ability upon Drug Treatment

Human Mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are multi-potential cells which are widely used in cell therapy. However, the frequently emerged senescence and decrease of differentiation capabilities limited the broad applications of MSC. In this study, hMSCs were treated by rapamycin, oltipraz, metformin, and vitamin C for the indicated time and the cells were subjected to senescence evaluation and trilineage differentiation. Transcriptomics dataset of hMSCs after drugs treatment was analyzed to interpret biological pathways responsible for the anti-senescence effects. Although four drugs exhibited significant activities in promoting MSC osteogenic differentiation, metformin is the optimal drug to promote trilineage differentiation. GO terms illustrated that the anti-aging effects of drugs were mainly associated with cellular senescence, mitotic and meiosis process. The method established and discussed in this study can be used to study different biological phenotypes upon drug intervention in MSC which will extend the clinical application of hMSCs. mRNA profiles of the hMSCs which were treated by rapamycin, oltipraz, metformin, vitamin C and control for the indicated time