ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1937-0568
Current Organisation
The University of Tennessee Knoxville
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Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 28-01-2019
DOI: 10.1155/2019/8907570
Abstract: Smooth muscle cell- (SMC-) based tissue engineering provides a promising therapeutic strategy for SMC-related disorders. It has been demonstrated that human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) possess the potential to differentiate into mature bladder SMCs by induction with condition medium (CM) from bladder SMC culture, in combination with the transforming growth factor- β 1 (TGF- β 1). However, the molecular mechanism of SMC differentiation from DPSCs has not been fully uncovered. The canonical Wnt signaling (also known as Wnt/ β -catenin) pathway plays an essential role in stem cell fate decision. The aim of this study is to explore the regulation via GSK3 β and associated downstream effectors for SMC differentiation from DPSCs. We characterized one of our DPSC clones with the best proliferation and differentiation abilities. This stem cell clone has shown the capacity to generate a smooth muscle layer-like phenotype after an extended differentiation duration using the SMC induction protocol we established before. We further found that Wnt-GSK3 β / β -catenin signaling is involved in the process of SMC differentiation from DPSCs, as well as a serial of growth factors, including TGF- β 1, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet-derived growth factor-homodimer polypeptide of B chain (BB) (PDGF-BB), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Pharmacological inhibition on the canonical Wnt-GSK3 β / β -catenin pathway significantly downregulated GSK3 β phosphorylation and β -catenin activation, which in consequence reduced the augmented expression of the growth factors (including TGF- β 1, HGF, PDGF-BB, and VEGF) as well as SMC markers (especially myosin) at a late stage of SMC differentiation. These results suggest that the canonical Wnt-GSK3 β / β -catenin pathway contributes to DPSC differentiation into mature SMCs through the coordination of different growth factors.
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1155/2016/6979368
Abstract: Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are multipotent cells capable of differentiating into multiple cell lines, thus providing an alternative source of cell for tissue engineering. Smooth muscle cell (SMC) regeneration is a crucial step in tissue engineering of the urinary bladder. It is known that DPSCs have the potential to differentiate into a smooth muscle phenotype in vitro with differentiation agents. However, most of these studies are focused on the vascular SMCs. The optimal approaches to induce human DPSCs to differentiate into bladder SMCs are still under investigation. We demonstrate in this study the ability of human DPSCs to differentiate into bladder SMCs in a growth environment containing bladder SMCs-conditioned medium with the addition of the transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF- β 1). After 14 days of exposure to this medium, the gene and protein expression of SMC-specific marker ( α -SMA, desmin, and calponin) increased over time. In particular, myosin was present in differentiated cells after 11 days of induction, which indicated that the cells differentiated into the mature SMCs. These data suggested that human DPSCs could be used as an alternative and less invasive source of stem cells for smooth muscle regeneration, a technology that has applications for bladder tissue engineering.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United States of America
Location: No location found
No related grants have been discovered for Qian Liu.