Vitamin E Supplementation Delays Cellular Senescence In Vitro

Abstract EN

Vitamin E is an important antioxidant that protects cells from oxidative stress-induced damage, which is an important contributor to the progression of ageing.

Ageing can be studied in vitro using primary cells reaching a state of irreversible growth arrest called senescence after a limited number of cellular divisions.

Generally, the most utilized biomarker of senescence is represented by the expression of the senescence associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal).

We aimed here to study the possible effects of vitamin E supplementation in two different human primary cell types (HUVECs and fibroblasts) during the progression of cellular senescence.

Utilizing an unbiased automated system, based on the detection of the SA-β-gal, we quantified cellular senescence in vitro and showed that vitamin E supplementation reduced the numbers of senescent cells during progression of ageing.

Acute vitamin E supplementation did not affect cellular proliferation, whereas it was decreased after chronic treatment.

Mechanistically, we show that vitamin E supplementation acts through downregulation of the expression of the cycline dependent kinase inhibitor P21.

The data obtained from this study support the antiageing properties of vitamin E and identify possible mechanisms of action that warrant further investigation.