Effect of Cerium on Human Foreskin Fibroblasts Proliferation and Migration

Objectives: Tissue structure remodeling mediated by fibroblasts is an adaptive phenomenon and essential element in physiological repair. Fibroblasts respond rapidly to variation in extracellular milieu, resulting in growth and production of new matrix. Previous studies support the stimulatory effect of cerium in dermal fibroblasts. This study investigates the effect of cerium-chloride CeCl₃ on human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) proliferation and migration.
Methods: HFF cells were plated until 60% of confluence. CeCl₃ solutions (1, 5 or 10, w/v%) were added in 1, 5 min and 10 min of cell exposure, the CeCl₃ solutions were aspirated and washed. After 48h of exposure to CeCl₃ solutions, the cell proliferation was assessed by MTT dye reduction assay test. The cell migration assays was determined by the scratch-wounded monolayer model and the imaging recorded during 24hrs. The width of the wound was measured using NIH ImageJ software. The gene expression patterns of Cyclin B1, D1 and E1 were analyzed by Quantitative PCR. Differences considered statistically significant at p<0.05 (t-test).
Results: The proliferation of HFF was significantly enhanced at 1 and 5 min of 1%, 5% and 10% of CeCl₃ exposure compared with the cells cultured without CeCl₃ (p<0.05), whereas no result was found for 10 min of exposure. Concentrations of 5% and 10% induced increase in cell migration up to 60% up to 5 min on the scratch wound-healing assay. The qPCR showed upregulation of Cyclin B1, D1 and E1 in same concentrations of 5% and 10%, confirming increase in cell proliferation.
Conclusions: This study demonstrates a positive effect of CeCl₃ on proliferation and migration response of fibroblasts depending on the concentration and cell culture time. These results raise questions on the possible contribution of CeCl₃ as a cell-stimulating agent in tissue fibrosis or more resistant tissue around teeth in different periodontal therapies, which merits further investigation.