title: Differentiation of rat dermal papilla cells into fibroblast-like cells induced by transforming growth factor β1.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The origin of wound-healing fibroblasts is still debated. Dermal papilla cells (DPCs), which are an important population of stem cells for the regeneration of hair follicles, play a considerable role in cutaneous wound healing. Based on the plasticity of DPCs in wound healing, we hypothesized that DPCs may contribute to the fibroblast population of wound repair.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore the possibility of differentiation of DPCs into fibroblasts induced by transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1).
  
  
  METHODS
  The fourth passage DPCs were treated with TGF-β1 (10 ng/mL) for 4 days, and a series of methods was used to observe morphologic changes under an inverted phase contrast microscope, to validate the messenger ribonucleic acid expression change in α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and vimentin by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR), to analyze the expression of α-SMA and vimentin protein by flow cytometry, and to semiquantitatively measure the expression of fibroblast-specific protein 1 (FSP1) by Western blot.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DPCs treated with TGF-β1 presented fibroblast-like changes in morphology and immunocytochemistry. The effects of TGF-β1 on α-SMA and vimentin in DPCs were detected on both the transcriptional and the posttranscriptional levels. The results showed that TGF-β1 significantly downregulated α-SMA expression and enhanced the expression of vimentin at all times tested. Further study revealed that TGF-β1 could gradually promote the expression of FSP1 in a time-dependent manner.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DPCs experienced the changes in molecular marker expression in response to TGF-β1, which may be a key source of fibroblasts in wound healing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns,Yichang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Clinical College of Traditional Chinese Medicine of China, Three Gorges Univerity, Yichang.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hou-dong
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bin
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ying-bin
authors.forename: Shi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shao-hai
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian-zeng
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu-sheng
authors.forename: Tang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jin-ming
authors.forename: Xie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ju-lin
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D014746:Vimentin; C579666:FSP1 protein, rat; C498862:Acta2 protein, rat