Abstract:

Objective To investigate the impacts of tanshinone ⅡA （Tan ⅡA） on lipopolysaccharide （LPS） induced proliferation and apoptosis of dental pulp stem cells by regulating the fatty acid synthase （Fas）/fatty acid synthase ligand （FasL） signaling pathway. Methods Identification of human pulp stem cells （hDPSCs） isolated from the third molar of 18 ~ 20 years old patients requiring orthodontics. Lps-induced hDPSCs were treated with low， medium and high doses of Tan ⅡA， and then human recombinant FasL protein （rh FasL） was used to intervene the LPS-induced hDPSCs after high dose Tan ⅡA. Proliferation and apoptosis of hDPSCs， levels of tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） and interleukin （IL）-6 in hDPSCs supernatant， proliferating cell nuclear antigen （PCNA）， Cleaved aspartate-specific cysteine proteinase-3 （Cleaved Caspase-3） ， Fas， FasL protein expression were detected. Results hDPSCs were successfully isolated. In a dose-dependent manner， Tan IIA promoted LPS-induced proliferation， inhibited apoptosis， up-regulated PCNA protein expression， and inhibited TNF-α， IL-6 level， Cleaved Caspase-3， Fas， and FasL protein expression. The effect of rh FasL on LPS-induced dental pulp stem cells was opposite to the above indexes （P < 0.05）. rh FasL attenuates the effect of high-dose Tan ⅡA on proliferation and apoptosis of LPS-induced dental pulp stem cells. Conclusion Tan ⅡA may promote LPS induced hDPSCs proliferation and inhibit apoptosis by inhibiting the Fas/FasL signaling pathway.

Key words: tanshinone ⅡA, fatty acid synthase/fatty acid synthase ligand signaling pathway, dental pulp stem cells, proliferation, apoptosis