Mitochondrial activity of cancer and normal mesenchymal stem cells in vitro cultured in medium with different deuterium content

Abstract

We showed that cancer and normal mesenchymal stem/stromal (MSC) cells in vitro in a deuterated growth medium show a decrease of mitochondrial activity (MA), while in a deuterium-depleted medium an increase. This was established using mitotracker and rhodamine 123, and was also confirmed by expression of the UCP1 gene. The correlation dependence of mitochondrial activity in a medium with a changed ratio of deuterium/protium (D/H) and supramolecular structures was established, using the laser diffraction method. Density inhomogeneities in the deuterated medium are noted to be large, and in the deuterium-depleted medium small, in comparison with the control.