Upregulation of JHDM1D-AS1 protects PDLSCs from H2O2-induced apoptosis by decreasing DNAJC10 via phosphorylation of eIF2α.

Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) are a promising tool for regenerative medicine in clinical periodontal ligament repair. However, clinical maintenance of high quality and large quantity of PDLSCs faces multiple obstacles. One of them is how PDLSCs respond to environmental stimuli such as reactive oxygen species. We aim to elucidate how PDLSCs react to oxidative stress and the underlying mechanisms. We utilized hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress to mimic ROS increase in rat PDLSCs. Our data indicated a rapid downregulation of a long non-coding RNA, lncRNA JHDM1D antisense 1 (JHDM1D-AS1), when PDLSCs were treated with hydrogen peroxide, which was negatively associated with PDLSC apoptosis. Moreover, our data showed that JHDM1D-AS1 regulated PDLSC apoptosis via inhibition of DNAJC10, a heat shock protein 40 family member. Moreover, overexpressed DNAJC10 inhibited Bcl-2 protein level and eIF2α phosphorylation level, which, in turn, contributed to PDLSC apoptosis. Our results revealed a protective role of JHDM1D-AS1 in ROS-induced apoptosis, and validated that JHDM1D-AS1/DNAJC10/phosphorylated-eIF2α/Bcl-2 pathway works as an anti-apoptotic signaling axis in PDLSCs.These findings will facilitate the in vitro culturing of PDLSCs for clinical usage and promote stem cell-based therapy for periodontal tissue regeneration.