Volume 15, Issue 4 pp. 388-400
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Curcumin restores the engraftment capacity of aged hematopoietic stem cells and also reduces PD-1 expression on cytotoxic T cells

Prajakta Shinde

Prajakta Shinde

Department of Stem Cell Biology, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, 411007 India

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Rutuja Kuhikar

Rutuja Kuhikar

Department of Stem Cell Biology, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, 411007 India

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Rohan Kulkarni

Rohan Kulkarni

Department of Stem Cell Biology, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, 411007 India

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Nikhat Khan

Nikhat Khan

Department of Stem Cell Biology, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, 411007 India

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Lalita Limaye

Lalita Limaye

Department of Stem Cell Biology, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, 411007 India

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Vaijayanti Kale

Corresponding Author

Vaijayanti Kale

Department of Stem Cell Biology, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, 411007 India

Symbiosis Centre for Stem Cell Research, Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences, Symbiosis International University, Pune, 412115 India

Correspondence

Vaijayanti Kale, Symbiosis Centre for Stem Cell Research, Symbiosis International University, LAvale, Pune 412115, India.

Email: [email protected]

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First published: 15 February 2021
Citations: 10

Prajakta Shinde, Rutuja Kuhikar, and Rohan Kulkarni have contributed equally.

Abstract

Aging affects the functionality of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), and therefore, aged individuals are not preferred as donors in HSC transplantation. Such elimination leads to the restriction of donor cohort. Several efforts are being done to rejuvenate aged HSCs. Here, we show that treatment of aged mice with curcumin rejuvenates their HSCs by restoring the expression of autophagy-inducing messenger RNAs in them, and improves their engraftment capacity. Importantly, we show that curcumin is effective in rejuvenation of HSCs when administered via both, intraperitoneal as well as oral routes. Aging also affects the immune system. While elderly individuals are not immuno-deficient, they do not respond optimally to immunizations, and hence, a strategy needs to be developed to make them immunologically responsive. Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), one of the inhibitory coreceptors, plays an important role in the regulation of autoimmunity, infectious immunity, and cancer immunity. Its expression on T cells is indicative of their exhaustion. Here, we show that curcumin reduces the frequency of PD1+ cytotoxic T cells in the spleens of aged mice. Curcumin has a proven safety profile, and hence, can be used to treat aged donors to boost the functionality of their HSCs and also to improve the immunological profile of aged individuals. These data could have implications in various other regenerative medicine protocols as well.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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