Psoralen induces rat mesenchymal stem cell differentiation towards male germ cells in vitro / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To test the hypothesis that psoralen induces rat mesenchymal stem cells (RMSCs) to differentiate towards male germ cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RMSCs were induced by psoralen at the final concentration of 3.0 µg/ml, and the morphological changes of the cells were detected microscopically and the cell proliferation changes were measured by MTT assay. The expressions of 7 representative marker genes of male germ cells, namely Oct-4, Stra8, RVLG, SCP3, TNP2, Itgb1, and Itga6, were investigated in the induced cells by real-time quantitative PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>RMSCs showed no obvious morphological changes after induction with 3.0 µg/ml psoralen for 72 h. Psoralen induction for 5 days did not significantly affect the proliferation of RMSCs; Psoralen induction for 72 h, however, significantly up-regulated the genes Oct-4, Stra8, SCP3, and Itgb1 (P<0.05) without affecting the expressions of the genes RVLG, TNP2, or Itga6 (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Psoralen may participate in the differentiation of RMSCs towards male germ cells.</p>