Effect of -carotene on cell proliferation and differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells into endothelial progenitor cells Wahyu Widowati 1 , Caroline Tan Sardjono 1 , Laura Wijaya 2 , Dian Ratih Laksmitawati 3 , Jeanne Adiwinata Pawitan 4 *, Ferry Sandra 5 1 Medical Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Maranatha Christian University, Bandung, (INDONESIA) 2 Stem Cell and Cancer Institute, Jakarta, (INDONESIA) 3 Faculty of Pharmacy, Pancasila University, Jakarta, (INDONESIA) 4 Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, (INDONESIA) 5 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, Trisakti University, Jakarta, (INDONESIA) E-mail: jeanneadiwip@fk.ui.ac.id; jeanneadiwip@gmail.com FULL PAPER ABSTRACT Aim: To evaluate the ability of -carotene to protect oxidation effect of H 2 O 2 , and to enhance proliferation and differentiation into AD-MSCs into EPCs. Experimental: AD-MSCs were induced by EGM Bullet Kit medium with or without -carotene. The proliferation of EPCs was determined by viable cell number counts. Differentiation into EPCs was characterized by the following surface markers: CD 34, CD133 and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2). The protective effect of -carotene was measured base on the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) by fluorescence with 2,7- dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCF-DA) using flow cytometry. Results: -Carotene enhanced cell proliferation and differentiation of AD-MSCs into EPCs, and also decreased the accumulation of H 2 0 2 -induced intracellular ROS in EPCs. Conclusion: - Carotene plays a role in cell proliferation and differentiation of AD-MSCs to EPCs that might be due to decreased intracellular ROS level.  2014 Trade Science Inc. - INDIA KEYWORDS Endothelial progenitor cell; Oxidative stress; Reactive oxygen species (ROS); -carotene; Antioxidant; Endothelium. INTRODUCTION Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) appear to be both multipotent and immune privileged, which make them particularly attractive for stem cell therapy [1,2] . Mesen- chymal stem cells have improved heart function in both animal models of acute myocardial injury as well as clini- cal studies of patients with heart failure [1,3] . The mecha- nism of improvement involved their differentiation into smooth muscle and endothelial cells, which caused neovascularization and improved cardiac function [4] . Cell population, termed processed lipoaspirate (PLA) cells, can be isolated from human lipoaspirate, and can dif- ferentiate into the osteogenic, adipogenic, myogenic, and BTAIJ, 9(10), 2014 [407-412] BioTechnology An Indian Journal Volume 9 Issue 10 BioTechnology ISSN : 0974 - 7435