胎肝中肝干细胞的免疫组织化学研究

目的采用免疫组织化学方法显示不同时期人胚胎肝脏的干细胞,分析肝干细胞的形态与分布特点及发育过程中干细胞在肝脏中的迁徙,探讨肝脏的发生发育及肝内干细胞的来源。方法不同发育时期胎儿肝脏,取材、固定、制成石蜡切片,ABC法检测肝干细胞特异性的表面标记物CD34、CK19、C-11和OV6。结果胎肝内汇管区周边界板处有卵圆样细胞表达CD34、C-11、CK19和OV6,阳性细胞紧密排列成管,呈鞘样包绕着早期汇管区,部分包绕着初级汇管区,随着次级汇管区的成熟,卵圆样干细胞逐渐局限于赫令氏管周围;此外,胚胎发育的不同阶段均可见CD34、OV6阳性的单核样细胞分散在肝索、肝血窦之内,多见于汇管区的问充质组织之内,肝血管内鲜见。结论胚胎发育早期汇管区周边界板处含有丰富的干细胞,可能是肝脏发育的起点,这些干细胞逐渐分化为胆管上皮样细胞,然后分化为肝细胞和胆管上皮细胞;造血干细胞是肝内的另一干细胞来源,造血干细胞在肝内受到诱导作用分化为小部分的肝实质细胞。     

不同浓度HGF、EGF优化大鼠胎肝干细胞体外培养的研究

目的:研究不同浓度肝细胞生长因子(Hepatocyte growth factor,HGF)和表皮生长因子(epidermal growth factor,EGF)对大鼠胎肝干细胞体外增殖的影响,探索二者间有无协同作用.方法:取孕14天胎龄F344大鼠胚胎的胎肝,经三步分离法分离纯化后,配置不同浓度HGF、EGF及HGF和EGF联合组培养基,将胎肝干细胞分组培养.光镜下观察细胞增殖状况,MTT法观察不同浓度和不同时间HGF、EGF及HGF和EGF联合对大鼠胎肝干细胞增殖的影响,并进行统计学分析.结果:HGF 10～80 ng/mL各浓度组,EGF 10～80 ng/mL各浓度组增殖效应均大于对照组.当HGF为20ng/mL,增殖效应明显大于对照组(P＜0.01),当HGF浓度继续增高时,增殖效应无明显增高.将20 ng/mL HGF组与不同浓度EGF组合后分组培养细胞,发现20 ng/ml HGF和10 ng/mLEGF联合组增殖效应明显升高,继续升高联合组中EGF浓度,增殖效应无明显提高.结论:HGF和EGF具有明显改善大鼠胎肝干细胞体外无血清培养条件的作用,二者对大鼠胎肝干细胞体外培养具有协同促进作用.其中20 ng/mL HGF和10 ng/mL EGF联合培养促进大鼠胎肝干细胞增殖效果最明显.     

小鼠胚胎干细胞分化为肝细胞的基因芯片分析

弄清胚胎肝脏发育的分化调节机制,对指导干细胞在肝再生中的应用以及研究肝分化相关疾病分子机制具有重要意义．胚胎干细胞的全能性使得体外建立肝向分化模型成为可能,采用单层贴壁培养方式,分阶段加入成纤维细胞生长因子(FGF)、肝细胞生长因子(HGF)、制瘤素(OSM)等因子,诱导小鼠胚胎干细胞D3(mESC-D3)的肝向分化．分化细胞在光镜和电镜下呈现肝样细胞形态,RT-PCR、细胞免疫荧光检测以及PAS染色分析表明,这些细胞具有肝细胞特征性的基因表达和生化功能．采用干细胞分化相关基因芯片比较早期肝定向分化前后的基因表达差异,结果显示,48个差异表达基因中(大于2倍),20个上调、28个下调．进一步的生物信息学分析发现,它们集中体现在细胞外基质、细胞连接、FGF、BMP分子及Notch、Wnt信号通路上,提示这些改变可能与胚胎早期的肝向分化密切相关．     

M-CSF诱导人骨髓间充质干细胞分化为肝样细胞的分子机制

本研究主要目的是明确M-CSF诱导骨髓间充质干细胞分化为肝样细胞的分子机制,为临床中的肝移植和治疗肝病提供新思路。对取自于本院骨科治疗的患者的股骨骨髓间充质干细胞进行提取、分离、传代培养及鉴定。流式细胞仪检测BMSCs的表面表型。为了诱导BMSCs的肝分化,本研究将BMSCs加入到培养基中。骨髓间充质干细胞诱导21 d后,BMSCs表达了肝细胞特异性标志物a-蛋白(AFP)和细胞角蛋白18(CK18),通过免疫荧光染色证实了分化与为分化的BMSCs表达的差异性。分化的BMSCs还显示了肝细胞的体外功能特征,包括白蛋白产生、尿素分泌和糖原储存。本研究结果表明,BMSCs在M-CSF诱导下可分化为功能性肝细胞样细胞,可作为肝病治疗的细胞来源。     

骨髓源性肝干细胞的研究

近年来全球掀起了有关干细胞的研究热潮 ,除血液干细胞、胚胎干细胞和神经干细胞外 ,肝干细胞也是引人注目的内容之一。肝干细胞的存在与否曾是一个争议性问题 ,目前已趋于肯定。自从Ｐｅ ｔｅｒｓｅｎｅｔａｌ[1] 有关骨髓细胞能分化为肝上皮细胞系的论文发表后 ,关于血源性干细胞能转化为肝实质细胞的事实引起了广泛的关注[2～ 4 ] ,本文就有关研究进展综述如下。1.肝内干细胞成体动物肝脏内有干细胞吗 ?这个问题已经争论了半个多世纪 ,目前通过体内、外实验证实了肝干细胞的存在 ,肝的卵圆细胞和小肝细胞作为肝干细胞或肝前体细胞的观点…     

低浓度血清促进胚胎肝祖细胞诱导分化

为了探讨不同血清浓度诱导培养条件下对体外诱导胚胎肝祖细胞成熟分化的影响。本研究选用含有10%FBS、5%FBS、2%FBS的DMEM/HGF/FGF4肝细胞培养基体外诱导胚胎肝祖细胞的成熟分化,分别于诱导后0d、3d、6d、9d、12dALB-GLuc检测细胞白蛋白的合成水平,细胞计数检测细胞的成长曲线。RT-PCR检测肝细胞相关标志DLK、AFP、CK18,免疫荧光检测ALB、UGT1A的表达情况。ICG摄取和尿素氮检测肝细胞成熟功能。诱导后第三天,ALB-GLuc开始增高,于第9天达高峰,2%FBS组ALB-GLuc读数最高。生长曲线显示低血清浓度下细胞的增殖速度明显慢于高血清浓度。RT-PCR和免疫荧光结果显示诱导后第9天,3个诱导组DLK、AFP表达低于无诱导组,CK18、ALB、UGT1A均高于无诱导组,2%FBS组差异最显著。3个诱导组的肝细胞ICG摄取能力明显增高,2%FBS组ICG阳性细胞数为(60.2±9.0)%,明显高于5%FBS(45.0±3.6)%及10%FBS组(35.2±2.9)%,诱导后肝细胞的尿素合成功能增强,尤其是2%FBS组。低浓度血清培养条件能更好的诱导胚胎肝祖细胞的体外成熟分化。     

ES细胞体外定向分化为成熟肝细胞的实验研究

探讨了肝细胞在胚胎干细胞（ES cell）体外诱导分化系统中成熟分化的条件、机制及其鉴定方法.利用TGF, bFGF、HGF等细胞生长因子进行BALB/c小鼠ES细胞向肝细胞方向的定向诱导.利用反转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）、免疫细胞化学（ICC）和放射免疫法（RIA）动态检测肝细胞特异性基因和蛋白AFP,ALB,G6P,TAT,CK8, CK18等在培养体系中的表达,并测定肝细胞的尿素合成功能,最后测定肝细胞分化率.结果,肝细胞特异基因AFP, ALB,G6P和TAT最早分别于第3、9、11、13天表达,肝细胞特异蛋白AFP,CK8,CK18和ALB最早分别于第7、9、9和11天开始表达.第12天开始检测到尿素出现,浓度为8.3 μmol/L,并随培养时间延长而浓度逐渐增加.最后,测得生长因子诱导组肝细胞的分化率为32％,对照组肝细胞分化率为8%.说明肝细胞可以在ES细胞体外诱导分化系统中出现并成熟分化,bFGF、HGF、OSM等可以明显提高细胞分化率和成熟度,有望成为解决肝功能替代疗法中细胞来源问题的新希望.     

胆汁淤积性肝硬化来源的微环境因子对肝脏干细胞分化的影响

该研究探讨了胆汁淤积性肝硬化病理微环境来源的细胞因子在胆总管结扎小鼠不同时间点的表达变化,且在体外致力寻找最优的细胞因子组合高效诱导肝脏干细胞HP14-19分化为成熟肝细胞。以Balb/c小鼠胆总管结扎(bile duct ligation,BDL)模拟胆汁淤积性肝硬化病理微环境;免疫组织化学检测胆总管结扎小鼠肝组织中细胞因子EGF、HGF及TGF-α的表达;以小鼠胚胎肝干细胞HP14-19细胞为研究对象,以不同浓度在不同时间点进行荧光素酶报告基因检测ALB-Gluc活性;qRT-PCR、Western blot检测肝细胞相关标志物表达;吲哚菁绿(indocyanine green,ICG)及过碘酸–希夫(periodicacid-schiff,PAS)染色检测肝细胞的成熟功能。结果显示,小鼠胆总管结扎能成功模拟胆汁淤积性肝硬化,并随结扎时间延长肝硬化程度加重;与对照相比,在EGF(10 ng/mL)、HGF(20 ng/mL)、TGF-α(20 ng/mL)单独诱导HP14-19细胞能有效增强ALB-Gluc活性(P0.05);且在EGF(10 ng/mL)、HGF(20 ng/mL)、TGF-α(20 ng/mL)联合诱导HP14-19细胞时显著增强ALBGluc活性(P0.05);qRT-PCR、Western-blot显示,ALB、CK18表达随时间增加而增加,而AFP表达则相反。ICG摄取及PAS染色阳性细胞数显著增加(P0.05)。因此,胆汁淤积性肝硬化病理微环境来源的细胞因子能有效促进肝脏干细胞肝向分化,将对细胞因子联合肝脏干细胞移植治疗胆汁淤积性肝硬化有一定的指导意义。     

重组腺病毒介导 HGF 修饰 ADSCs 对大鼠肝损伤模型的治疗作用

摘要 目的：建立重组腺病毒介导肝细胞生长因子 HGF 促 ADSCs 定向分化肝细胞的方法,并对其参与肝损伤修复能力进行验 证, 为作为治疗肝损伤细胞来源提供参考。 方法： 采用消化培养的方法, 分离 SD 大鼠腹股沟脂肪组织 ADSCs 细胞, 连续传代 3 次 对其进行纯化培养, 利用形态学鉴定、 流式细胞术检测 ADSCs 表面标志物方法对其间充质干细胞样特征进行鉴定, 加入成脂肪 细胞诱导液观察其分化成脂肪细胞的能力; 构建腺病毒表达 HGF 载体 Adeno-HGF-EGFP, 并转染 ADSCs 细胞, 利用免疫细胞化 学染色方法检测肝细胞标志分子表达水平; 最后建立大鼠肝损伤动物型, 观察 Adeno-HGF-EGFP 转染的 ADSCs 细胞参与肝损 伤修复能力情况。结果： 分离的 ADSCs 细胞形态较为一致, 绝大多数呈梭形, 排列不规则。流式细胞术结果显示, 该细胞表达 CD29、 CD90、 CD106 等间充质干细胞细胞表面标记物, 低表达造血干细胞细胞表面标记物 CD34、 CD45, 同时, 分离的 ADSCs 细 胞具有诱导分化成脂肪细胞能力; Adeno-HGF-EGFP 转染 ADSCs 后, AFP、 ALB、 CK18 等肝细胞特异性分子表达水平升高;经尾 静脉注射 ADSCs 细胞后, 肝损伤大鼠的 AST、 ALT、 TBIL 等分子表达水平恢复正常。结论： 建立了重组腺病毒介导肝细胞生长因 子 HGF 促 ADSCs 定向分化肝细胞的方法, 并且表达 HGF 的 ADSCs 细胞具有修复大鼠肝损伤模型能力, 这为通过细胞治疗肝损 伤提供了新的细胞来源。     

成体干细胞向肝细胞分化

成体干细胞跨越胚层限制分化为其他胚层来源的细胞,对揭示不同胚层细胞间相互分化的生物学意义和机制具有重要学术价值,并可以为临床细胞移植治疗开辟新的途径,从而成为当前研究的热点之一。综述了近年来肝源性卵圆细胞、成肝细胞、骨髓源干细胞和其他成体干细胞跨越分化为肝细胞的研究现状与进展,以及卵圆细胞、成肝细胞等的分离鉴定,表面标志、生物学特征和跨越分化机制,并对成体干细胞在肝脏疾病细胞治疗上的应用前景作了展望。     

Generation of cerebellar neuron precursors from embryonic stem cells

Here, we report in vitro generation of Math1+ cerebellar granule cell precursors and Purkinje cells from ES cells by using soluble patterning signals. When neural progenitors induced from ES cells in a serum-free suspension culture are subsequently treated with BMP4 and Wnt3a, a significant proportion of these neural cells become Math1+. The induced Math1+ cells are mitotically active and express markers characteristic of granule cell precursors (Pax6, Zic1, and Zipro1). After purification by FACS and coculture with postnatal cerebellar neurons, ES cell-derived Math1+ cells exhibit typical features of neurons of the external granule cell layer, including extensive motility and a T-shaped morphology. Interestingly, differentiation of L7+/Calbindin-D28K+ neurons (characteristic of Purkinje cells) is induced under similar culture conditions but exhibits a higher degree of enhancement by Fgf8 rather than by Wnt3a. This is the first report of in vitro recapitulation of early differentiation of cerebellar neurons by using the ES cell system.     

Inhibition of Cardiomyocytes Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells by CD38/cADPR/Ca2+ Signaling Pathway

Cyclic adenosine diphosphoribose (cADPR) is an endogenous Ca²⁺ mobilizing messenger that is formed by ADP-ribosyl cyclases from nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). The main ADP-ribosyl cyclase in mammals is CD38, a multi-functional enzyme and a type II membrane protein. Here we explored the role of CD38-cADPR-Ca²⁺ in the cardiomyogenesis of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. We found that the mouse ES cells are responsive to cADPR and possess the key components of the cADPR signaling pathway. In vitro cardiomyocyte (CM) differentiation of mouse ES cells was initiated by embryoid body (EB) formation. Interestingly, beating cells appeared earlier and were more abundant in CD38 knockdown EBs than in control EBs. Real-time RT-PCR and Western blot analyses further showed that the expression of several cardiac markers, including GATA4, MEF2C, NKX2.5, and α-MLC, were increased markedly in CD38 knockdown EBs than those in control EBs. Similarly, FACS analysis showed that more cardiac Troponin T-positive CMs existed in CD38 knockdown or 8-Br-cADPR, a cADPR antagonist, treated EBs compared with that in control EBs. On the other hand, overexpression of CD38 in mouse ES cells significantly inhibited CM differentiation. Moreover, CD38 knockdown ES cell-derived CMs possess the functional properties characteristic of normal ES cell-derived CMs. Last, we showed that the CD38-cADPR pathway negatively modulated the FGF4-Erks1/2 cascade during CM differentiation of ES cells, and transiently inhibition of Erk1/2 blocked the enhanced effects of CD38 knockdown on the differentiation of CM from ES cells. Taken together, our data indicate that the CD38-cADPR-Ca²⁺ signaling pathway antagonizes the CM differentiation of mouse ES cells.     

低氧通过上调Wnt5a促进人胚胎干细胞向生血内皮细胞分化

胚胎的早期发育是在低氧条件下进行的,低氧环境在胚胎血管发生及造血发育中起着重要作用,低氧条件能促进胚胎干细胞在体外向内皮细胞和造血细胞的分化,但低氧条件对造血细胞产生的具体作用及相应机制尚不清楚．本研究利用人Es细胞向造血祖细胞定向分化体系,发现低氧环境可以促进CD31＋TIE2＋造血内皮祖细胞的产生,2天后造血内皮祖细胞开始表达终生造血基因．进一步研究发现,低氧能够上调Wnt5a的表达,干涉Wnt5a能够抑制低氧环境对生血内皮细胞分化的促进作用．在正常氧环境下加入Wnt5a产生促进生血内皮细胞分化的效应,该效应与低氧处理促进生血内皮细胞产生的作用相似．本研究首次证明了低氧通过上调Wnt5a的表达促进人Es细胞向生血内皮细胞的分化,为ES细胞向生血内皮细胞的分化及造血祖细胞分化的研究提供了新的线索．     

Hepatocyte growth factor exerts a proliferative effect on oval cells through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a potent mitogen for a variety of cells including hepatocytes. While rat oval cells are supposed to be one of hepatic stem cells, biological effects of HGF on oval cells and their relevant signal transduction pathways remain to be determined. We sought to investigate them on OC/CDE22 rat oval cells, which are established from the liver of rats fed a choline-deficient/DL-ethionine-supplemented diet. The oval cells were cultured on fibronectin-coated dishes and stimulated with recombinant HGF, transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha), and thrombopoietin (TPO) under the serum-free medium condition. HGF treatment enhanced [3H]thymidine incorporation into oval cells in a dose-dependent manner. On the contrary, treatment with TGF-alpha or TPO had no significant effects on [3H]thymidine incorporation into the oval cells. c-Met protein was phosphorylated at the tyrosine residues after the HGF treatment. AKT, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), and p70(s6k) were simultaneously activated after the HGF stimulation, peaking at 30min after the treatment. The activation of AKT, p70(s6k), and ERK1/2 induced by HGF was abolished by pre-treatment with LY294002, a phosphoinositide 3-OH kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, and U0126, a mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitor, respectively. When the cells were pre-treated with LY294002 prior to the HGF stimulation, the proliferative action of HGF was completely abrogated, implying that the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is responsible for the biological effect of HGF. These in vitro data indicate that HGF exerts a proliferative action on hepatic oval cells via activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.     

Selective Development of Myogenic Mesenchymal Cells from Human Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Human embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are promising sources for the cell therapy of muscle diseases and can serve as powerful experimental tools for skeletal muscle research, provided an effective method to induce skeletal muscle cells is established. However, the current methods for myogenic differentiation from human ES cells are still inefficient for clinical use, while myogenic differentiation from human iPS cells remains to be accomplished. Here, we aimed to establish a practical differentiation method to induce skeletal myogenesis from both human ES and iPS cells. To accomplish this goal, we developed a novel stepwise culture method for the selective expansion of mesenchymal cells from cell aggregations called embryoid bodies. These mesenchymal cells, which were obtained by dissociation and re-cultivation of embryoid bodies, uniformly expressed CD56 and the mesenchymal markers CD73, CD105, CD166, and CD29, and finally differentiated into mature myotubes in vitro. Furthermore, these myogenic mesenchymal cells exhibited stable long-term engraftment in injured muscles of immunodeficient mice in vivo and were reactivated upon subsequent muscle damage, increasing in number to reconstruct damaged muscles. Our simple differentiation system facilitates further utilization of ES and iPS cells in both developmental and pathological muscle research and in serving as a practical donor source for cell therapy of muscle diseases.     

Effects of thymic polypeptides on the thymopoiesis of mouse embryonic stem cells

The thymus provides a unique cellular and hormonic microenvironment for the development of immunocompetent T cells. Thymic polypeptides have been widely used clinically for the treatment of tumors, infectious diseases and immune deficiency diseases. They have already shown the ability to stimulate the maturation of hematopoietic stem cells towards the CD3+CD4+ T cell lineage. However, their effects on the thymopoiesis of embryonic stem cells are still unexplored. In this paper, we compared the effects of three thymic polypeptides, thymopentin (TP5), thymosin alpha-1 (Talpha-1) and thymopeptides on the in vitro thymopoiesis of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. Using the embryoid body induction system, we found that both Talpha-1 and thymopeptides effectively induced ES cells to differentiate sequentially into the CD3+ and CD4+/CD8+ T cells. These T cells had T cell receptor (TCR) Vbeta gene rearrangement and most were TCRalphabeta T cells. We also found that the expression of the Notch receptor and its ligands Delta-like-1 and Delta-like-4 gradually increased during the induction. However, TP5 failed to induce the T cell differentiation of the ES cells. In summary, this is the first report to demonstrate that Talpha-1 can stimulate the T cell early stage differentiation from ES cells using the embryoid body protocol. These findings provide a powerful model for studying T cell development and may open new venues for the clinical application of Talpha-1.