Photobiomodulation: a novel approach to promote trans-differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells into neuronal-like cells.

JOURNAL/nrgr/04.03/01300535-202502000-00035/figure1/v/2024-05-28T214302Z/r/image-tiff Photobiomodulation, originally used red and near-infrared lasers, can alter cellular metabolism. It has been demonstrated that the visible spectrum at 451-540 nm does not necessarily increase cell proliferation, near-infrared light promotes adipose stem cell proliferation and affects adipose stem cell migration, which is necessary for the cells homing to the site of injury. In this in vitro study, we explored the potential of adipose-derived stem cells to differentiate into neurons for future translational regenerative treatments in neurodegenerative disorders and brain injuries. We investigated the effects of various biological and chemical inducers on trans-differentiation and evaluated the impact of photobiomodulation using 825 nm near-infrared and 525 nm green laser light at 5 J/cm2. As adipose-derived stem cells can be used in autologous grafting and photobiomodulation has been shown to have biostimulatory effects. Our findings reveal that adipose-derived stem cells can indeed trans-differentiate into neuronal cells when exposed to inducers, with pre-induced cells exhibiting higher rates of proliferation and trans-differentiation compared with the control group. Interestingly, green laser light stimulation led to notable morphological changes indicative of enhanced trans-differentiation, while near-infrared photobiomodulation notably increased the expression of neuronal markers. Through biochemical analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, we observed marked improvements in viability, proliferation, membrane permeability, and mitochondrial membrane potential, as well as increased protein levels of neuron-specific enolase and ciliary neurotrophic factor. Overall, our results demonstrate the efficacy of photobiomodulation in enhancing the trans-differentiation ability of adipose-derived stem cells, offering promising prospects for their use in regenerative medicine for neurodegenerative disorders and brain injuries.

Potential of Photobiomodulation to Induce Differentiation of Adipose- Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Neural Cells.

BACKGROUND: Given the minimal capacity and sometimes the failure of the mammalian nervous system to regenerate and repair itself after damage, strategies are required to help enhance this regenerative process. Adipose-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (ADMSCs) are likely candidates to assist in the recovery process due to their ability to differentiate into neural cells. Successful implementation of this intervention in a clinical setting would increase the rate of recovery following traumatic brain injury. REVIEW: Various strategies have been attempted to differentiate ADMSCs into neural cells for clinical use. Such methods have not been entirely successful in the development of functioning specialized cells for subsequent practical use. Therefore, the implementations of this differentiation technique in the clinical trial have not been effective. In this article, the potential of differentiating ADMSCs into neural cells and the various methods employed, including biological induction, chemical induction and photobiomodulation (PBM) will be discussed, where the combined use of transducers and PBM for neural differentiation of ADMSCs is also deliberated. CONCLUSION: PBM shows promise as an avenue for effective ADMSCs differentiation into neural cells and their proliferation. Applying PBM with optimized biological factors and chemical inducers may prove to be an effective tool for clinical application.