Open AccessRole of VR 1 in the differentiation of bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells into cardiomyocytes associated with Wnt/β‐catenin signaling
Author(s) -
Ren Mingming,
Wang Tao,
Huang Lei,
Ye Xiaoqiang,
Xv Zhifeng,
Ouyang Chun,
Han Zhen
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
cardiovascular therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1755-5922
pISSN - 1755-5914
DOI - 10.1111/1755-5922.12228
Subject(s) - wnt signaling pathway , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , runx2 , mesenchymal stem cell , cellular differentiation , signal transduction , catenin , transcription factor , biology , gene , biochemistry
Summary Aim Accumulating evidence showed that transient receptor potential channels play an important role in the regulation of cardiomyocyte differentiation. The vanilloid receptor 1 ( VR 1) is a member of the transient receptor channel super family and is expressed in cardiomyocytes. However, its function in cardiomyocytes remains unclear. Methods Herein, the aim of this study was to investigate the functional role of VR 1 in the cardiomyocyte differentiation of bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells ( BMSC s) and to elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms. Results Immunofluorescence assay showed that cardiomyocyte marker cardiac troponin T ( cTnT ) was found significantly elevated in differentiated BMSC s induced by 5‐azacytidine compared with control. Similarly, VR 1 expression was also found significantly increased in induced BMSC s differentiation. Additionally, we examined the role of VR 1 in BMSC differentiation processes through VR 1 si RNA s. We found that the expression of cardiomyocyte marker genes, such as alpha‐myosin heavy chain (α‐ MHC ), α‐cardiac actin, and Nkx2.5 (cardiac‐specific transcription factor), was significantly decreased when VR 1 was silenced. Furthermore, we found that inhibition of VR 1 expression is associated with downregulation of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling. Conclusions To summarize, our data demonstrate important role of VR 1 in BMSC s differentiation into cardiomyocytes in conjunction of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling.