ObjectiveTo observe the possibility and mechanism of microRNA (miRNA)-203 inducing the human epidermal stem cells to differentiate into sweat gland cells. MethodsFive normal human foreskin tissues were harvested to prepare a single cell suspension by 0.25% trypsin-EDTA digestion method, then the human epidermal stem cells were isolated and cultured by type IV collagen differential adherent method. The cell morphology was observed by inverted phase contrast microscope. The monoclonal antibodies of integrin β1 (ITGB1), cytokeratin19 (CK19), CK1, CK10, CK18, and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were used for identification by immunocytochemical staining. Double stranded mimics of has-miR-203 were transfected into the human epidermal stem cells with Lipofectamine 2000 (experimental group) and the human epidermal stem cells transfected with nonsense miRNA mimics served as control group. The monoclonal antibodies of ITGB1, CK19, CK1, CK10, CK18, and CEA were used for identifying the cells after transfection by immunocytochemical staining; the mRNA relative expressions of miRNA-203, P63, ITGB1, CK19, CK1, CK10, CK18, and CEA were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR before transfected and at 72 hours after transfected. The protein relative expressions of P63, ITGB1, CK19, CK1, CK10, CK18, and CEA were detected by Western blot. The mRNA expression of miRNA-203 and the mRNA and protein expressions of P63 were analyzed respectively with Pearson correlation. ResultsThe CK19 and ITGB1 were positively expressed before transfection, but CK1, CK10, CK18, and CEA were expressed positively after transfection. The mRNA relative expression of miRNA-203 after transfection in experimental group was significantly higher than that before transfection (P<0.05). The mRNA and protein relative expressions of CK1, CK10, CK18, and CEA after transfection in experimental group were significantly higher than those before transfection and control group (P<0.05), while the mRNA and protein relative expressions of P63, CK19, and ITGB1 were significantly lower than those before transfection and control group (P<0.05). These indicators showed no significant difference between the control group and before transfection (P>0.05). The expression level of miRNA-203 was negatively correlated with the mRNA and protein relative expressions of P63 before and after transfection, the correlation coefficients before transfection were -0.91 (t=3.862, P=0.042) and -0.96 (t=5.971, P=0.009) respectively; the correlation coefficients after transfection were -0.92 (t=4.283, P=0.031) and -0.95 (t=5.842, P=0.011) respectively. ConclusionmiRNA-203 can induce epidermal stem cells to differentiate into sweat gland cells by targeting inhibition of P63 probably.
ObjectiveTo explore the phenotypic changes of epidermal stem cells (ESCs) differentiating into sweat glands cells (SGCs) in vitro and its mechanisms. MethodsESCs and SGCs were isolated and cultured in vitro, which were identified using immunofluorescence staining. ESCs at passage 2 were divided into 4 groups: ESCs and SGCs co-cultured by Transwell plates in group A, ESCs cultured by simply adding sweat supernatant in group B, ESCs and SGCs co-cultured on Transwell plate adding epidermal growth factor (EGF) (60 ng/mL) in group C, and ESCs and SGCs co-cultured on transwell plate adding PD98059 (10 mmol/L) in group D. The inverted microscope was used for observing the morphology of ESCs, flow cytometry for detecting ESCs positive phenotype, and Western blot for exploring mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) pathway. ResultsThe morphology observation and immunofluorescence staining suggested that cultured cells were ESCs and SGCs. The inverted phase contrast microscope observation showed that cells had similar morphological changes, with flat polygonal shape at 9 days in groups A, C, and D; cells had slow morphological change in group B, and had similar change to that of other groups at 12 days. Significant decreasing of β1-integrin expression and increasing of carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) expression of ESCs were observed in group A when compared with group B, which was inhibited by EGF (group C) and enhanced by PD98059 (group D), and there were significant differences among groups A, C, and D (P<0.05). High level of ERK expression was displayed in 4 groups, but it was significantly lower in group B than the other 3 groups (P<0.05). The expression of phosphorylation ERK was the highest in group A and was the lowest in group C, showing significant difference among 4 groups (P<0.05). ConclusionESCs can be induced to differentiate into SGCs with the phenotypic changes under the condition of co-cultured by Transwell plates. The MAPK/ERK pathway plays a key role in the differentiation of ESCs into SGCs.