The Role of Potassium Channels in Neuronal Differentiation of Stem Cells from Umbilical Cord Matrix

Abstract

Potassium channels play a critical role in neurogenesis and establishing electrical excitability of neurons in model organisms. Much less is known about the involvement of potassium channels in human development. We have investigated the potential role of potassium channels in neurogenesis of stem cells isolated from human umbilical cord matrix. We hypothesize that potassium channels expressed in stem cells play an important role in both development and repair in the brain. Here we demonstrate expression of a number of potassium channels during the course of neuronal differentiation of stem cells derived from human umbilical cord matrix based on immunodetection and whole cell patch clamp analysis of potassium currents. We explored the effects of blocking potassium channels that were identified on neuronal differentiation. Our findings show that blocking different potassium channels had varying effects with blocking the large conductance calcium activated potassium channel being most profound. Neuronal differentiation was inhibited based on the lack of morphological changes into neuronal phenotypes and the altered expression of a number of genes associated with neuronal differentiation. These results suggest that potassium channels play a critical role in differentiation of stem cells into neuronal phenotypes. Funded by NIH Grant Number P20 RR016475, NIH (R01NS036124) and the State of Kansas.