Role of glycogen synthase kinase 3 in squamous differentiation of pig airway epithelial cells: A primary study.
To investigate if glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) is involved in squamous differentiation of airway (tracheobronchial) epithelial cells, primary pig airway epithelial cells were treated with lithium chloride, a highly selective inhibitor of GSK3. Change in morphology of cells was monitored under microscopy, and expression of beta-catenin, phosphorylated GSK3 and involucrin, a squamous differentiation marker, were dectected by Western blotting, while expression of mRNA of another squamous differentiation marker, small proline-rich protein, was detected by RT-PCR. Further, luciferase reporter assay was used to assess the activation of beta-catenin/Tcf signaling. The results demonstrated that lithium was able to induce a squamous morphology of the cells, and to enhance the expression of involucrin and small proline-rich protein mRNA. Moreover, lithium increased inhibitory phosphorylation of GSK3, augmented nuclear translocation of beta-catenin in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Activation of beta-catenin/Tcf signaling was observed after the elevation of squamous differentiation markers. Taken together, these data suggest that GSK3 is possibly involved in squamous differentiation of pig airway epithelial cells.
Chen
Wen-Shu
WS
Department of Pathology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology;Pulmonary Disease Laboratory, the Ministry of Health of China, Wuhan 430030, China;E-mail: renliangwu@hotmail.com.
Wu
Ren-Liang
RL
Tian
Dan
D
Wang
Xi
X