Induction of highly functional hepatocytes from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells by HNF4α transduction.
Hang H., Yu Y., Wu N., Huang Q., Xia Q., Bian J.
Laboratory Study, published in PLoS One (2014) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.
Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.
- Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
- Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
- Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
- Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
- Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.
- Study type
- Laboratory Study
- Journal
- PLoS One (2014)
- Country
- United States
- Reported sample size
- —
- Source database
- PubMed
- PMID
- 25137413
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0104133
Abstract (original English)
To investigate the differentiation potential of human umbilical mesenchymal stem cells (HuMSCs) and the key factors that facilitate hepatic differentiation. HuMSCs were induced to become hepatocyte-like cells according to a previously published protocol. The differentiation status of the hepatocyte-like cells was examined by observing the morphological changes under an inverted microscope and by immunofluorescence analysis. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4α) overexpression was achieved by plasmid transfection of the hepatocyte-like cells. The expression of proteins and genes of interest was then examined by Western blotting and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or real-time RT-PCR methods. Our results demonstrated that HuMSCs can easily be induced into hepatocyte-like cells using a published differentiation protocol. The overexpression of HNF4α in the induced HuMSCs significantly enhanced the expression levels of hepatic-specific proteins and genes. HNF4α overexpression may be associated with liver-enriched transcription factor networks and the Wnt/β-Catenin pathway. The overexpression of HNF4α improves the hepatic differentiation of HuMSCs and is a simple way to improve cellular sources for clinical applications.
What this study does not prove
- • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
- • This is preclinical work; animal or laboratory results cannot be applied to humans.
Evidence level
Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.
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