Cellular phenotype conversion and relative mechanism of human mesenchymal stem cells cocultured indirectly with human sweat gland cells: a preliminary study

Abstract

Objective To observe the cellular phenotype conversion of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cocultured indirectly with heat-shocked human sweat gland cells (SGCs) in vitro and explore the relative mechanism. Methods MSCs and SGCs were isolated and amplified in vitro. First,primary confluent cultures of SGCs were heat-shocked at 47℃. Then, the supernatants were collected immediately and 24 hours before applied to the third generation of MSCs. After seven days, the MSCs expressing CK7, CK18 and CEA were examined by two-step immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry and compared with the control group. Results MSCs treated with the supernatants of SGCs proliferated slowly, with no obvious morphological changes during seven days. Two-step immunocytochemistry demonstrated positive staining of CK7 and CEA in some cells. Additionally, the positive rate of CK7 and CEA was 5.76% and 2.01% by flow cytometry, much higher than that of the control sample, which was only 1.12% and 0.51% respectively (P ＜ 0.01 ). Conclusions There are some signal moleculars in the supernatants of heat-shocked SGCs, which benefits the transdifferentiation of MSCs. Key words: Mesenchymal stem cells; Sweat glands; Heat shock response; Coculture techniques; Transdifferentation