Abstract

The Hema Effects on Autophagy Mechanism in the Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells

Author(s): Guya Diletta Marconi, Francesca Diomede and Jacopo Pizzicanella

Autophagy is an intricate mechanism that allows the degradation of cellular constituents to improve cell homeostasis, recycling the injured, dysfunctional, or not necessary constituents. The aim the work was to analyze the biological outcomes of HEMA on proliferation and autophagy in human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs). Human DPSCs were treated with several concentrations of HEMA. Autophagic markers such as microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3-I/II) and ubiquitin-binding protein (p62) were evaluated through immunofluorescence. Beclin1, LC3-I/ II, and p62 were determined using Western blotting. On considering the part occupied by the extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK) and its phosphorylated form (pERK) arbitrates numerous cellular events, such as autophagy, apoptosis and senescence, the involvement of ERK/pERK signaling was also measured. Then, the up-regulation of pERK and ERK levels, connected with nuclear translocation, shown that ERK pathway signaling could act as a promoter of autophagy in dental pulp stem cells treated with HEMA.