title: Nanog down-regulates the Wnt signaling pathway via β-catenin phosphorylation during epidermal stem cell proliferation and differentiation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Skin tissue homeostasis is maintained by a balance between the proliferation and differentiation of epidermal stem cells (EpSCs). EpSC proliferation and differentiation are complex processes regulated by many factors and signaling pathways. This study aimed to explore the connection between the Nanog and the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in the proliferation and differentiation of EpSCs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results demonstrated that during the study period, EpSC underwent differentiation when incubated in the presence neuropeptide substance P (SP), there was an opposing expression trend of Nanog and β-catenin after SP treatment, which could be antagonized by the Wnt antagonist, Dkk-1. The transduced EpSCs had a greater proliferative ability than the SP treatment group and they did not undergo differentiation upon SP treatment. More important, β-catenin expression was down-regulated but phosphorylated β-catenin expression and phosphorylated GSK-3β expression was up-regulated upon Nanog overexpression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results strongly suggest that Nanog plays an important role in maintaining the proliferation and differentiation homeostasis of EpSCs by promoting β-catenin phosphorylation via GSK-3β to inhibit the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. This is important for precise regulation of proliferation and differentiation of EpSC in the application of tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.|Biological engineering and regenerative medicine center,Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xuying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, The Third Hospital Affiliated to Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510150 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Delong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Kaixiang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yonghui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fengjing
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Anmin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Weikai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
keywords: Differentiation; Epidermal stem cells; Nanog; Proliferation; Wnt/β-catenin