title: Differentiation of lymphatic endothelial cells from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells with VEGFs.
abstract: Although there have been many experimental studies demonstrating that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the potential to differentiate into mesenchymal tissues such as osteocytes, chondrocytes, and adipocytes in vivo and in vitro, little information is available regarding their potential to differentiate into lymphatic endothelial cells. Therefore, we chose to investigate differentiation of MSCs into lymphatic endothelial cells using stimulation with members of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFs) family. Rat MSCs were isolated from bone marrow aspirate of Sprague-Dawley rats as previously described and characterized with flow cytometry for surface markers CD14, CD34, CD29, and CD90. Purified MSCs were plated and cultured in the presence of VEGF-A, VEGF-C, or the combination of both for 10 days. We examined the cells for Prox-1 and LYVE-1 by immunocytochemistry, RT-PCR, and Western blot analysis. Results demonstrated that compared to controls, cell differentiated with VEGF-A, VEGF-C and VEGF-A+VEGF-C expressed Prox-1 and LYVE-1. Our results indicate that MSCs induced by VEGFs are capable of differentiating into lymphatic endothelial-like cells in vitro, and this response has the potential to make them attractive candidates for the development of autologous tissue grafts for future therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Luwan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Yanli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Guoling
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yunhai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Xianrang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhaoxi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Yushun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Zhiyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C467498:vascular endothelial growth factor A, rat