Platelet‐derived growth factor promotes the proliferation of human umbilical cord‐derived mesenchymal stem cells

This study was designed to investigate the effect of platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) on the proliferation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC‐MSCs) and further explore the mechanism of PDGF in promoting the proliferation of UC‐MSCs. The human UC‐MSCs were treated with different concentrations of PDGF, and the effects were evaluated by counting the cell number, the cell viability, the expression of PDGF receptors analyzed by RT‐PCR, and the detection of the gene expression of cell proliferation, cell cycle and pluripotency, and Brdu assay by immunofluorescent staining and Quantitative real‐time (QRT‐PCR). The results showed that PDGF could promote the proliferation of UC‐MSCs in vitro in a dose‐dependent way, and 10 to 50 ng/ml PDGF had a significant proliferation effect on UC‐MSCs; the most obvious concentration was 50 ng/ml. Significant inhibition on the proliferation of UC‐MSCs was observed when the concentration of PDGF was higher than 100 ng/ml, and all cells died when the concentration reached 200 ng/ml PDGF. The PDGF‐treated cells had stronger proliferation and antiapoptotic capacity than the control group by Brdu staining. The expression of the proliferation‐related genes C‐MYC, PCNA and TERT and cell cycle–related genes cyclin A, cyclin 1 and CDK2 were up‐regulated in PDGF medium compared with control. However, pluripotent gene OCT4 was not significantly different between cells cultured in PDGF and cells analyzed by immunofluorescence and QRT‐PCR. The PDGF could promote the proliferation of human UC‐MSCs in vitro. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.