Introduction:: One of the biggest hurdles in implementing stem cell therapies is the occurrence of cellular senescence within aging culture populations. Senolytic drugs such as Quercetin are capable of removing senescent cells from a culture with minimal harm to reproducing cells, which has very promising implications for the future of the field of tissue engineering. Successful implementation of senolytic drugs is one of the next steps of bringing stem cell therapies into the forefront of modern medicine.
Materials and Methods:: Donor cells obtained from fatty tissue deposits were cultured until they reached visible senescence. Senescent cells as well as young passages were differentiated into osteogenic and adipogenic cell lines and treated with Quercetin, before staining with Oil Red O for the adipogenic cells and Alizarin Red for the osteogenic cells. Young passages from both donors were treated with Queretin and then analyzed with an IDO ELISA kit.
Results, Conclusions, and Discussions:: Quercetin showed promise in its ability to reduce senescent cells from given adipo- and osteogenic cell cultures, most effectively in older passages. The IDO analysis displayed a decrease in immune function in the presence of Quercetin. The decrease in IDO production was statistically significant but not quantitatively extreme, suggesting a robust but minimal immunoinhibitory function of Quercetin.
