Adenovirus transfection of MafA induces human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells to express pancreatic cell-specific genes / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUMSCs) can differentiate into insulin-producing cellsafter induced by chemical drugs or co-culture methods, but insulin secretion is extremely low. Therefore, to inducemature pancreatic beta cell differentiation from stem cells by adenovirus transfection of specific genes involved in thedevelopment of pancreas is a research hotspot in recent years.OBJECTIVE: To study the differentiation potential of HUMSCs into insulin-producing cells after transfection withmusculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma oncogene homologue A (MafA).METHODS: Ad-MafA-EGFP was transferred into passage 3 HUMSCs. After 7 days of induction, changes of cellmorphology were observed by inverted phase contrast microscope. Expression of pancreatic cell-specific genes(glucagon, PDX1, Nkx2.2) was detected by PCR technique.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: After Ad-MafA-EGFP transfection, no significant morphological changes were observedin the HUMSCs under inverted phase contrast microscope. It was confirmed by fluorescence microscope thatAd-MafA-EGFP was transferred into the HUMSCs. After induction, the expression of human pancreatic precursorcell-related genes, including glucagon, PDX1 and Nkx2.2, was increased as detected by PCR. To conclude, thesefindings could provide experimental evidence for further differentiation and maturation of pancreatic β cells fromHUMSCs.