Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-mediated activation of ERK1/2 signaling does not contribute to maintained survival of cocultured alloxan-treated INS-1E beta cells

Introduction: Injury-activated MSC secrete tissue protective factors which contribute to re-establishment of the local microenvironment. We previously demonstrated that cocultured telomerase-immortalised human MSC (hMSC-TERT) promote survival of alloxan (ALX)- or streptozotocin-treated INS-1E beta cells via AKT signalling. hMSC-TERT further mediated proliferation via ERK1/2 signalling. Here we investigated whether ERK1/2 signalling contributes to survival during ALX-mediated beta cell stress. Methods: Cocultures employed hMSC-TERT and INS-1E, and used inserts with 1 µm pores that allow only humoral factors but n…