IQUIBICEN   23947
INSTITUTO DE QUIMICA BIOLOGICA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS EXACTAS Y NATURALES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
?Signaling pathways activated during hepatic differentiation of amniotic epithelial stem cells?
Autor/es:
RODRIGO RIEDEL; MARIANA JAIME; VICTOR SÁNCHEZ MARGALET; ANTONIO PÉREZ-PÉREZ; ORNELLA PAROLINI; CECILIA VARONE; ALEJANDRA ERLEJMAN; JOSÉ LUIS DUEÑAS; JULIETA MAYMÓ
Lugar:
TOKIO
Reunión:
Congreso; ? International Federation of Placenta Associations (IFPA) Meeting; 2018
Institución organizadora:
IFPA
Resumen:
INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVES: The placenta and fetal membranes have recently been proposed as an important stem cells source for regenerative medicine. Gestational cells offer considerable advantages over other stem cells: the virtually unlimited potential supply of, an easy access to such tissues, and minimal ethical and legal barriers. Amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) can be isolated from the amnion of the human placenta at term. They express embryonic stem cells markers and they are pluripotent. Moreover, they have immunosuppressive properties. These characteristics would make hAECs ideal candidates for application in regenerative medicine. Hepatic failure is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and the available treatments have several obstacles. Recently, stem cells have been spotlighted as alternative sources of hepatocytes because of their potential for hepatogenic differentiation. The signaling pathways involved in hepatic differentiation of hAECs remain poorly understood. The aim of this work was to study some of the pathways activated in hAECs during their early and late hepatic differentiation process. METHODS: Hepatic differentiation (HD) was assayed by specific HD medium (EGF + dexamethasone). Immunofluorescence, Western blot and MTT assays were performed.RESULTS: We have found that HD medium significantly induced an increment in MEK and ERK 1/2 phosphorylation, measured by Western blot and immunofluorescence (IF). Treatment of hAECs with PD98059 (a MEK inhibitor) caused the inhibition of HD, as albumin expression was reduced. In addition, we determined that inhibition of MAPK pathway diminished Ki-67 expression and cell viability, in differentiated hAECs. We have also observed that HD medium promotes phosphorylation of PI3K and Akt, as determined by Western blot and IF. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the activation of the MAPK and PI3K pathways may be responsible for a successful hepatic differentiation of hAECs. Understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating hepatocyte differentiation will significantly facilitate the development of stem cell-based therapy to treat liver diseases.