NANOG Alleviates the Damage of Human Hair Follicle Mesenchymal Stem Cells Caused by H2O2 through Activation of AKT Pathway

Abstract Objective To explore the protective effect of NANOG against hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) -induced cell damage in the human hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells (hHF-MSCs). Methods NANOG was expressed from a lentiviral vector, pLVX-IRES-ZsGreen. NANOG hHF-MSCs and vector hHF-MSCs were treated with 400 μmol/L hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) for 2 h, the cell survival rate, cell morphology, ROS production, apoptosis and expression of AKT, ERK, and p21 were determined and compared. Results Our results showed that NANOG could activate AKT and upregulate the expression of p-AKT, but not p-ERK. When treated with 400 μmol/L H 2 O 2 , NANOG hHF-MSCs showed higher cell survival rate, lower ROS production and apoptosis, higher expression of p-AKT, higher ratio of p-AKT/AKT. Conclusion Our results suggest that NANOG could protect hHF-MSCs against cell damage caused by H 2 O 2 through activating AKT signaling pathway.