title: Overexpression of microRNA-122 enhances in vitro hepatic differentiation of fetal liver-derived stem/progenitor cells.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a versatile class of tiny non-coding RNAs involved in regulation of various biological processes. miRNA-122 (miR-122) is specifically and abundantly expressed in human liver. However, the role of miR-122 in differentiation of fetal liver stem/progenitor cells into hepatocytes remains unclear. In this study, dual positive CD34+/CD117+ expressing human fetal liver stem/progenitor cells was enriched by magnetic cell sorting and cultured in vitro. The level of miR-122 was found to be increased at specific time intervals. Interestingly, during the differentiation process of hepatocyte-like cells, the increase in expression of miR-122 was positively correlated with expression of hepatocyte-specific genes. The status of differentiation process was improved by transfection of miR-122 into enriched stem/progenitor cells. The expression level of hepatic-specific genes as well as liver-enriched transcription factors (LETFs) was significantly increased by overexpression of miR-122 in fetal liver stem/progenitor cells. Thus, the study delineated the role of hepato-specific miR-122 in differentiation of fetal liver stem/progenitor cells into hepatocyte-like cells which could be used as a therapeutic target molecule to generate abundant hepatocytes.
authors: Department of Experimental Medicine and Biotechnology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh 160012, India.
authors: Ravi
authors: R
authors: Doddapaneni
authors: Yogesh K
authors: YK
authors: Chawla
authors: Ashim
authors: A
authors: Das
authors: Jasvinder Kaur
authors: JK
authors: Kalra
authors: Sujata
authors: S
authors: Ghosh
authors: Anuradha
authors: A
authors: Chakraborti
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D053686:Fetal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C531907:MIRN122 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D014157:Transcription Factors