Institute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2013 Sep 20;439(2):297-302. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2013.08.030. Epub 2013 Aug 17.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been demonstrated to be able to differentiate into neuron-like cells, but the precise mechanisms controlling this process are unclear. Using neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and nestin as neuronal markers, we examined the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in MSC neuronal differentiation in present study. The results indicated that the expression of β-catenin increased markedly during the neuronal differentiation of MSCs. Blocking Wnt signaling by treating MSCs with β-catenin siRNA could decrease the differentiation of MSCs into neuron-like cells and up-regulation of Wnt signaling by treating MSCs with Wnt-3a could promote neuronal differentiation of MSCs. Above results suggest that Wnt/β-catenin signaling may play a pivotal role in neuronal differentiation of MSCs. Our data broaden the knowledge of molecular mechanisms involved in the neuronal differentiation of MSCs and provide a potential target for directing differentiation of MSCs for clinical application.
间充质干细胞（MSCs）已被证明能够分化为神经元样细胞，但控制这一过程的确切机制尚不清楚。本研究使用神经元特异性烯醇化酶（NSE）和巢蛋白作为神经元标记物，研究了 Wnt/β-连环蛋白信号通路在 MSC 神经元分化中的作用。结果表明，β-连环蛋白在 MSC 的神经元分化过程中表达明显增加。用β-连环蛋白 siRNA 处理 MSC 阻断 Wnt 信号可以减少 MSC 向神经元样细胞的分化，而用 Wnt-3a 处理 MSC 上调 Wnt 信号可以促进 MSC 的神经元分化。上述结果表明，Wnt/β-连环蛋白信号通路可能在 MSC 的神经元分化中发挥关键作用。我们的数据拓宽了参与 MSC 神经元分化的分子机制的知识，并为指导 MSC 分化用于临床应用提供了一个潜在的靶点。
