Effects of Prostaglandin E2 Receptor 4 Agonist on the Expression of Stem Factors in Human CD34+ Cells

Abstract

To investigate the effect of prostaglandin E2 recoptor 4 antagonist (EP4A) on the self-renewal ability of human CD34+ cells and its mechamism. The peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell of 20 healthy donors received the G-CSF-mobilization were collected, then the human CD34+ cells were sorted out by MACS microbead kit. The human CD34+ cells were treated with DMSO (control group), EP4A (EP4A group) and EP4A+EP4A antagonist (EP4A+EP4A group) for 72 hours. The differential genes and pathways related with CD34+ cell stemness were detected by Thermogram and Pathway enrichment analysis. and then the expression levels of protein and gene (β-catenin, Nanog, Oct4, Sox2, Stat3, AKT, P38) were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot respectively. EP4A could elevate the mRNA and protein expression of β-catenin, Nanog, Oct4, Sox2, in comparison with control group, however, mRNA and protein expression of STAT3, AKT, P38 were not changed. When human CD34+ cell were cultured with EP4A+XAV939 it was found that the mRNA and protein expression of β-catenin was downregulated, moreover the mRNA and protein expression of Nanog, Oct4, Sox2 were reduced. EP4A can upregulate stemness factors-β-catenin, Nanog, Oct4 and Sox2 in human CD34+ cell in vitro, but not STAT3, AKT and P38.