Vitamin C alleviates aging defects in a stem cell model for Werner syndrome
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Ying Li,
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Weizhou Zhang,
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Liang Chang,
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Yan Han,
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Liang Sun,
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Xiaojun Gong,
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Hong Tang,
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Zunpeng Liu,
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Huichao Deng,
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Yanxia Ye,
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Yu Wang,
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Jian Li,
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Jie Qiao,
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Jing Qu,
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Weiqi Zhang,
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Guang-Hui Liu
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Abstract
Werner syndrome (WS) is a premature aging disorder that mainly affects tissues derived from mesoderm. We have recently developed a novel human WS model using WRN-deficient human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). This model recapitulates many phenotypic features of WS. Based on a screen of a number of chemicals, here we found that Vitamin C exerts most efficient rescue for many features in premature aging as shown in WRN-deficient MSCs, including cell growth arrest, increased reactive oxygen species levels, telomere attrition, excessive secretion of inflammatory factors, as well as disorganization of nuclear lamina and heterochromatin. Moreover, Vitamin C restores in vivo viability of MSCs in a mouse model. RNA sequencing analysis indicates that Vitamin C alters the expression of a series of genes involved in chromatin condensation, cell cycle regulation, DNA replication, and DNA damage repair pathways in WRN deficient MSCs. Our results identify Vitamin C as a rejuvenating factor for WS MSCs, which holds the potential of being applied as a novel type of treatment of WS.
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