Evaluation of in vitro anti-inflammatory effect of PLAY® on UC-MSCs: A COX-2 expression study

Wound healing is an intricate process consisting of multiple phases, each of which is indispensable for requisite tissue repair. Timely initiation and resolution of each overlapping phase is critical in aiding the wound healing cascade. A prolonged inflammatory phase causes overexpression of proteolytic mediators, resulting in extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and increased oxidative stress. This imbalance in inflammatory mediators, ECM degradation, and upregulated levels of reactive oxygen species retards cell proliferation and migration, resulting in delayed tissue repair and the development of chronic wounds. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a potent inflammatory mediator that plays a pivotal role in the wound healing process at different stages of the tissue repair cascade. Overexpression of COX-2 during the tissue repair process impairs the wound healing cascade and contributes to the formation of chronic wounds. PLAY® is an in-house product of International Stem Cell Services Limited (iCREST) that is a human blood-platelet cocktail of natural growth factors and bioactive modulators. In our study, we hypothesized that PLAY® decreases inflammation in phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)- and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)- stimulated umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) by downregulating COX-2 expression to its basal levels. We used an experimentally induced inflammatory in vitro model to produce enhanced COX-2 expression in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and PLAY® showed a significant decrease in COX-2 levels in PMA induced UC-MSCs, providing evidence for an innate anti-inflammatory effect of PLAY® and a potential role in accelerated wound healing.