title: Caveolin-1 Plays an Important Role in the Differentiation of Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Cardiomyocytes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) may transdifferentiate into cardiomyocytes, making BMSCs a promising source of cardiomyocytes for transplantation. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying myogenic conversion of BMSCs.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was designed to investigate the functional role of caveolin-1 in the cardiomyocyte differentiation of BMSCs and to explore the potential underlying molecular mechanisms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  BMSC differentiation was induced by treatment with 10 μM 5-azacytidine, and immunofluorescence assay showed that the expression of cardiomyocyte marker cardiac troponin T (cTnT) was significantly increased compared with a control group. Meanwhile, an increased caveolin-1 expression was found during the 5-azacytidine-induced BMSC differentiation. Additionally, the role of caveolin-1 in the differentiation process was then studied by using caveolin-1 siRNAs. We found that silencing caveolin-1 during induction remarkably enhanced the expression of cardiomyocyte marker genes, including cTnT, Nkx2.5 (cardiac-specific transcription factor), α-cardiac actin and α-myosin heavy chain (α-MHC). Moreover, we observed that downregulation of caveolin-1 was accompanied by inhibition of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) phosphorylation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taken together, these findings demonstrate that caveolin-1 plays an important role in the differentiation of BMSCs into cardiomyocytes in conjunction with the STAT3 pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Wuxi Second People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chunxia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jianing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Chengjian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D051242:Caveolin 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015536:Down-Regulation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D051242:Caveolin 1