mRNA Levels Of Differentiation Markers Research Articles

Cafestol has a weaker inhibitory effect on osteoclastogenesis than kahweol and promotes osteoblast differentiation.

Bone homeostasis is regulated by a balance between osteoclast (OCL)-mediated bone resorption and osteoblast (OBL)-mediated bone formation. Thus, developing a compound that simultaneously inhibits OCL function and promotes OBL function would be useful as a new medical therapy for bone diseases. Here, we examined the effects of cafestol, a coffee diterpene, on the differentiation of OCLs and OBLs. Cafestol prevented OCL formation in a dose-dependent manner and suppressed the bone-resorbing activity of OCLs. Interestingly, the viability of OCLs treated with 10-50 µM cafestol was significantly higher than that of untreated cells. At the molecular level, cafestol markedly decreased RANKL-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk) and inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B alpha (IκBα). Compared to kahweol, another coffee-specific diterpene, the inhibitory effects of cafestol were milder on OCL differentiation, and cafestol and kahweol showed different characteristics in induction of the phase ΙΙ antioxidant enzymes and sensitivities in nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-deficient BMMs. In addition to inhibiting OCLs, cafestol enhanced the differentiation of osteoblastic cells by increasing the mRNA levels of differentiation markers. Thus, cafestol inhibits OCL differentiation and promotes OBL differentiation, suggesting that cafestol may be a novel agent for bone diseases.

Primary human osteoblasts in response to 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and 24R,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.

The most biologically active metabolite 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) has well known direct effects on osteoblast growth and differentiation in vitro. The precursor 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) can affect osteoblast function via conversion to 1,25(OH)2D3, however, it is largely unknown whether 25(OH)D3 can affect primary osteoblast function on its own. Furthermore, 25(OH)D3 is not only converted to 1,25(OH)2D3, but also to 24R,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (24R,25(OH)2D3) which may have bioactivity as well. Therefore we used a primary human osteoblast model to examine whether 25(OH)D3 itself can affect osteoblast function using CYP27B1 silencing and to investigate whether 24R,25(OH)2D3 can affect osteoblast function. We showed that primary human osteoblasts responded to both 25(OH)D3 and 1,25(OH)2D3 by reducing their proliferation and enhancing their differentiation by the increase of alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin and osteopontin expression. Osteoblasts expressed CYP27B1 and CYP24 and synthesized 1,25(OH)2D3 and 24R,25(OH)2D3 dose-dependently. Silencing of CYP27B1 resulted in a decline of 1,25(OH)2D3 synthesis, but we observed no significant differences in mRNA levels of differentiation markers in CYP27B1-silenced cells compared to control cells after treatment with 25(OH)D3. We demonstrated that 24R,25(OH)2D3 increased mRNA levels of alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin and osteopontin. In addition, 24R,25(OH)2D3 strongly increased CYP24 mRNA. In conclusion, the vitamin D metabolites 25(OH)D3, 1,25(OH)2D3 and 24R,25(OH)2D3 can affect osteoblast differentiation directly or indirectly. We showed that primary human osteoblasts not only respond to 1,25(OH)2D3, but also to 24R,25(OH)2D3 by enhancing osteoblast differentiation. This suggests that 25(OH)D3 can affect osteoblast differentiation via conversion to the active metabolite 1,25(OH)2D3, but also via conversion to 24R,25(OH)2D3. Whether 25(OH)D3 has direct actions on osteoblast function needs further investigation.

Effects of methylmercury exposure on neuronal differentiation of mouse and human embryonic stem cells

The establishment of more efficient in vitro approaches has been widely acknowledged as a critical need for toxicity testing. In this study, we examined the effects of methylmercury (MeHg), which is a well-known developmental neurotoxicant, in two neuronal differentiation systems of mouse and human embryonic stem cells (mESCs and hESCs, respectively). Embryoid bodies were generated from gathering of mESCs and hESCs using a micro-device and seeded onto ornithine–laminin-coated plates to promote proliferation and neuronal differentiation. The cells were exposed to MeHg from the start of neuronal induction until the termination of cultures, and significant reductions of mESCs and hESCs were observed in the cell viability assays at 1,10,100 and 1000nM, respectively. Although the mESC derivatives were more sensitive than the hESC derivatives to MeHg exposure in terms of cell viability, the morphological evaluation demonstrated that the neurite length and branch points of hESC derivatives were more susceptible to a low concentration of MeHg. Then, the mRNA levels of differentiation markers were examined using quantitative RT-PCR analysis and the interactions between MeHg exposure and gene expression levels were visualized using a network model based on a Bayesian algorithm. The Bayesian network analysis showed that a MeHg-node was located on the highest hierarchy in the hESC derivatives, but not in the mESC derivatives, suggesting that MeHg directly affect differentiation marker genes in hESCs. Taken together, effects of MeHg were observed in our neuronal differentiation systems of mESCs and hESCs using a combination of morphological and molecular markers. Our study provided possible, but limited, evidences that human ESC models might be more sensitive in particular endpoints in response to MeHg exposure than that in mouse ESC models. Further investigations that expand on the findings of the present paper may solve problems that occur when the outcomes from laboratory animals are extrapolated for human risk evaluation.

Myogenic capacity of muscle progenitor cells from head and limb muscles

The restoration of muscles in the soft palate of patients with cleft lip and/or palate is accompanied by fibrosis, which leads to speech and feeding problems. Treatment strategies that improve muscle regeneration have only been tested in limb muscles. Therefore, in the present study the myogenic potential of muscle progenitor cells (MPCs) isolated from head muscles was compared with that of limb muscles. Muscle progenitor cells were isolated from the head muscles and limb muscles of rats and cultured. The proliferation of MPCs was analysed by DNA quantification. The differentiation capacity was analysed by quantifying the numbers of fused cells, and by measuring the mRNA levels of differentiation markers. Muscle progenitor cells were stained to quantify the expression of paired box protein Pax 7 (Pax-7), myoblast determination protein 1 (MyoD), and myogenin. Proliferation was similar in the head MPCs and the limb MPCs. Differentiating head and limb MPCs showed a comparable number of fused cells and mRNA expression levels of myosin-1 (Myh1), myosin-3 (Myh3), and myosin-4 (Myh4). During proliferation and differentiation, the number of Pax-7(+), MyoD(+), and myogenin(+) cells in head and limb MPCs was equal. It was concluded that head and limb MPCs show similar myogenic capacities in vitro. Therefore, in vivo myogenic differences between those muscles might rely on the local microenvironment. Thus, regenerative strategies for limb muscles might also be used for head muscles.

Nitric oxide regulates synthesis of gene products involved in keratinocyte differentiation and ceramide metabolism

During terminal differentiation of keratinocytes the expression of various proteins, which are required for the formation of the epidermal water barrier in the skin of land dwelling animals, is upregulated. Using a cell culture model for the differentiation of human keratinocytes and real-time PCR, we quantified the mRNA levels of several proteins involved in differentiation and ceramide metabolism. A calcium shift (1.1 mM CaCl2, 10 microM linoleic acid) for 8 days triggered an increase in mRNA levels of keratin 10 (75-fold), profilaggrin (55-fold), glucosylceramide synthase (40-fold), beta-glucocerebrosidase (30-fold), prosaposin (15-fold), acid sphingomyelinase (5-fold), and serine palmitoyltransferase (SPTLC2, 4-fold). However, mRNA levels of keratin 14 and acid ceramidase did not change significantly. On the other hand nitric oxide added at concentrations lower than 0.25mM stimulates proliferation of keratinocytes (Krischel et al., J. Invest. Dermatol. 111, 286-291, 1998). Accordingly, the NO donor S-nitroso-N-acetyl-D,L-penicillamine (SNAP, 0.2 mM) had no effect on the morphology of cultured keratinocytes, whereas in cultured human fibroblasts apoptosis was induced. The expression patterns obtained suggest that keratinocytes remain in a basal proliferative state, with a 3-fold increase in keratin 14 expression, a marked decrease in mRNA levels of differentiation markers and of most ceramide-metabolizing enzymes to negligible levels. The inhibitor of the NO synthase, N(G)-nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester (L-NAME, 10 mM), induced a transient increase in ceramide formation, followed by apoptosis in keratinocytes but not in fibroblasts. Both, SNAP and L-NAME, decreased the mRNA levels of all proteins involved in ceramide metabolism.

Reversible effects of sodium butyrate on the differentiation of F9 embryonal carcinoma cells

We have studied effects of sodium butyrate on embryonal carcinoma F9 cell differentiation. In the presence of sodium butyrate, F9 cells underwent rapid and drastic morphological changes and expressed marked increases in mRNA levels of various differentiation markers. When sodium butyrate was removed from the cultures, all the examined phenotypes of F9 cell differentiation rapidly reverted to the characteristics of undifferentiated stem cells. However, under the same conditions, when cycloheximide or actinomycin D was added to the cultures, such phenotypic reversion was not observed, but high mRNA levels of the differentiation markers as well as altered cell morphology were retained. These results indicated that the effects of sodium butyrate on induction of teratocarcinoma cell differentiation were reversible and that de novo syntheses of some mRNA(s) and protein(s) were necessary for the reversion of differentiated cells to stem cells.