Hepatic stellate cells modulate the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into hepatocyte-like cells.
Differentiation of stem cells is tightly regulated by the microenvironment which is mainly composed of nonparenchymal cells. Herein, we investigated effect of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in different states on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) differentiation. Rat HSCs were isolated and stayed quiescent within 5 days. Primary HSCs were activated by being in vitro cultured for 7 days or cocultured with Kupffer cells for 5 days. MSCs were cocultured with HSCs of different states. Expression of hepatic lineage markers was analyzed by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence. Glycogen deposition was detected by periodic acid-schiff staining. MSCs cocultured with HSC-T6 or Kupffer cell activated HSCs were morphologically transformed into hepatocyte-like cells. Hepatic-specific marker albumin was expressed in 78.3% of the differentiated MSCs 2 weeks after initiation of coculture. In addition, the differentiated MSCs also expressed alpha-fetoprotein, cytokeratin-18, glutamine synthetase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Glycogen deposition was detectable in 55.4% of the differentiated MSCs 6 weeks after initiation of coculture. However, the quiescent HSCs or culture activated HSCs did not exert the ability to modulate the differentiation of MSCs. Moreover, Kupffer cell activated HSCs rather than culture activated HSCs expressed hepatocyte growth factor mRNA. We draw the conclusion that fully activated HSCs could modulate MSCs differentiation into hepatocyte-like cells.
Deng
Xing
X
Department of Gastroenterology, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
Chen
Yue-Xiang
YX
Zhang
Xin
X
Zhang
Jun-Ping
JP
Yin
Chuan
C
Yue
Hai-Yan
HY
Lin
Yong
Y
Han
Ze-Guang
ZG
Xie
Wei-Fen
WF
D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D019070:Cell Lineage; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015870:Gene Expression; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007728:Kupffer Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor