Edible Bird Nest Industry Conference 2014, 25-26 November 2014,
Putrajaya
1
EFFECT OF EDIBLE BIRD NEST ON HUMAN NEURON STEM CELL
Ho, Y.S.1, S.K. Cheong1, C.H. Tan2 and Y.M. Lim1*
1Department of Pre-clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and
Health Sciences, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Lot PT 21144, Jalan
Sungai Long, Bandar Sungai Long, 43000
Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. 2Royal Bird’s Nest Sdn. Bhd., L9-02,
Level 9, Brem Mall, Jalan Jambu Mawar, Off Jalan Kepong 52000,Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia
*[email protected]
Introduction
Neurodegenerative disease is the irreversible damaged of neurons
in the brain.The disease involvescomplicated and unknown causative
factors; hence creating a tremendous burden in formulating an
effective treatment. After decade of research, stem cell therapy
has been discovered to have the intrinsic capability to
inducerepair and regeneration of neuron. However, one of the major
hurdle in stem cell therapy is the limitedgrowth rate of neural
stem cell; thus leading to incomplete regeneration of neuron. In
recent years, after the discoveryof the presence of fibroblast
growth factor [1] and sialic acid [2] in edible bird nest (EBN),
many studies have reportedthese two compounds are ableto promote
cell growthand development [3&4]. In this study, the effect of
EBN on the proliferation rate of human neural stem cell will be
investigated. This would be a preliminary stepserves to improve the
existing stem cell therapy for a broad spectrum of human
neurological diseases. Materials and Methods Results and
Discussion
Human neural stem cell culture supplemented with EBN extract
from 7.8 ppm to 62.5 ppm exhibited a gradual increased in
proliferation rate; while subsequent concentrations of EBN from 125
ppm to 4000 ppm showed a decreasing pattern in cell proliferation
(Figure 1). When compared to control, significant increase in cell
proliferation was noted at 62.5 ppm EBN extract (p < 0.05);
while decreased cell proliferation was significantly noted at 1000
ppm (p < 0.05).
From the microscopic examination of cell morphology in Figure 2,
the highest cell confluency was most apparent in culture treated
with 62.5 ppm EBN extract; most importantly, the cells did not show
any abnormal morphological changes when compare to control. Cell
proliferation rate begin to reduce significantly at the
concentration of 1000 ppm, and at higher concentration, cell
morphology started to display increasing cytolysis effect.
Based on the results demonstrated, the capability of EBN in
promoting the growth of neural stem cell is due to EBN
consistmostly sialic acid [2] and epidermal growth factor (EGF)
[1]. Exogenous source ofsialicacid is demonstratedto promote
cellular proliferation rate [3], as well as exerts a significant
influence on the development and function of the nervous system
[5]. EGF is one of the basic essential growth factorto mediate the
proliferation of neural stem cell[6].
Processed EBN was suspended in distilled
water, and boiled for 1 h
The extract was filtered and incorporated into the culture
of
human neural stem cell at different concentrations for 72h
Cell morphology was observed and
proliferation rate was measured via MTT assay
Conclusion Aqueous EBN extract at the concentration of 62.5 ppm
was the optimum
concentration to promote the proliferation rate of human neural
stem cells. This is the first study to report the effect of EBN on
neuron stem cells study. Further studies should be focused on the
investigation on the mechanisms of actions of EBN at molecular
levels. Acknowledgement
The authors would like to express their deepest gratitude to
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman for supporting and sponsoring this
research (Vote number: 6200/L46) and Royal Bird’s Nest Sdn. Bhd.
for providing edible bird’s nest. References 1) Kong, Y. C., Keung,
W. M., Yip, T. T., Ko, K. M., Tsao, S. W., and Ng, M. H.
(1987).
Evidence that epidermal growth factor is present in swiftlet's
(collocalia) nest. Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology, 87:
221-226.
2) Yagi, H., Yasukawa, N., Yu, S. -Y., Guo, C. -T., Takahashi,
N., Takahashi, T., et al. (2008). The expression of sialylated
high-antennary N-glycans in edible bird's nest. Carbohydrate
Research, 343(8), 1373–1377.
3) Aswir, A. R. & Wan Nazaimoon, W. M. (2001). Effect of
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alpha (TNF-a) release. In vitro International Food Research
Journal, 18(3): 1073-1077.
4) Roh, K. B., Lee, J., Kim, Y. S., Park, J., Kim, J. H., Lee,
J. S. and Park, D. (2011). Mechanisms of Edible Bird’s Nest
Extract-Induced Proliferation of Human Adipose-Derived Stem
Cells.Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine,
Article ID 797520, 11 pages doi:10.1155/2012/797520
5) Colin, P., Johnson, Ichiro Fujimoto, UrsRutishauser, and
Deborah, E. L. (2005). Direct Evidence That Neural Cell Adhesion
Molecule (NCAM) Polysialylation Increases Intermembrane Repulsion
and Abrogates Adhesion. The journal of biological chemistry. 280,
137–145,
6) Palmer, T. D., Markakis, E. A., Willhoite, A. R., Safar, F.
& Gage, F. H. (1999). Fibroblast growth factor-2 activates a
latent neurogenic program in neural stem cells from diverse regions
of the adult CNS. Journal of Neuroscience, 19, No. 19, pp.
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Figure 1: Effect of three different extracts of EBN on neural
stem cell proliferation rate,
values were expressed as percentage mean ± std of three
experiments.
