Fat Source Of Flk-1 ~ + Mesenchymal Stem Cells Self-renewal-related Micrornas

Background: With advancement of stem cell research, many regulatory factors in self-renewal and proliferation of stem cells have been reported, including Oct-3/4,Sox2,c-Myc,Klf4 and Lin28. MicroRNAs are a group of small, non-encoding RNAs, functioning through post-transcriptional regulation of target genes. Few reports have been published regarding microRNA's function in self-renewal capacity of stem cell. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the expression profile of miR-Z in early stage of adult mesenchymal stem cell. Methods: Human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) were induced to neural, endothelial, epithelial, osteogenic, and adipogenic differentiation, during which expression profile of miR-Z was measured by real-time PCR. Osteogenesis was chosen as an example. Corresponding target genes of related microRNAs were predicted by bioinformatic method and their transcription and translation level in osteogenesis were confirmed by RTPCR and western blot, respectively. Results: The expression of miR-Z increased and peaked at Day 6-9 while mRNA of its predicted target SOX2 decreased at Day 3 during multi-lineage differentiation of AD-MSC. Conclusion: According to its characteristic expression profile, miR-Z may have an important function in regulating the sternness of AD-MSC.