title: Wnt signaling pathways participate in Astragalus injection-induced differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.
abstract: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the capacity for self-renewal and multi-directional differentiation, and MSCs can differentiate into neuron-like cells under certain conditions. In this study, we used the traditional Chinese medicine Astragalus as an inducer. After 7 days of induction, the expression of specific markers was detected in each induced group by immunocytochemical staining. The results of real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot confirmed the immunocytochemistry analysis. We also tested some key genes and proteins of the Wnt signaling pathway, and found that they were increased in Astragalus-treated groups. After treatment with lithium chloride (LiCl), the protein expression of phospho GSK-3β and β-catenin was increased in each group compared to the corresponding group without LiCl. These findings demonstrate that Astragalus injection can induce differentiation of MSCs into neuron-like cells and suggest that the process of differentiation might be mediated by activation of Wnt signaling pathways.
authors: Nantong University Xinglin College, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, PR China.
authors: Jingfei
authors: J
authors: Zhong
authors: Hui
authors: H
authors: Cao
authors: Zhonghua
authors: Z
authors: Chen
authors: Fei
authors: F
authors: Zhou
authors: Xiangling
authors: X
authors: Tan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D027883:Astragalus Plant / Q000737:chemistry*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D051153:Wnt Proteins
keywords: Astragalus injection; Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; Neuron-like cells; Phospho GSK-3β; Wnt signaling