title: Urothelial differentiation of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells in vitro.
abstract: Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hUCMSCs) are the most primitive of those isolated from other post-natal tissue source. The hUCMSCs possess the capability of differentiating along multi-lineage. This study aimed to investigate whether hUCMSCs can differentiate into urothelium-like cells. The hUCMSCs were isolated from fresh human umbilical cord postpartum and expanded at least to passage 3 in vitro. Subsequently, they were cultured with conditioned medium from urothelial cells (UC-CM) supplemented with 20 ng/ml exogenous epidermal growth factor (EGF). Urothelial cell specific marker uroplakin II (UPII) and cytokeratins were evaluated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunofluorescence technology. During culture, hUCMSCs started to express UPII and cytokeratins weakly at 7 days and were significantly up-regulated at 2 weeks post-induction. Additionally, morphology of hUCMSCs changed from spindle-shape to a polygonal epithelial-shape similar to that of urothelial cells after 7 days. The study results indicated that hUCMSCs can differentiate into urothelium-like cells in a defined micro-environment in vitro constituted by UC-CM and exogenous EGF.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Shanghai First People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China Department of Urology, Shanghai First People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China Department of Urology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Zhongliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xinfeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Yingjian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D060833:Cellular Microenvironment; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned / Q000494:pharmacology; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007633:Keratins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000166:cytology; D060170:Uroplakin II / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D019459:Urothelium / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C554658:UPK2 protein, human; D060170:Uroplakin II; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor; D007633:Keratins
keywords: Cell differentiation; mesenchymal stromal cells; umbilical cord; urothelium