|
|
||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio; and 2Stem Cell Institute, 3Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation, Department of Medicine, 4Division of Cardiology, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and 5Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Submitted 22 December 2006 ; accepted in final form 30 May 2007
This study was designed to investigate the developmental expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) during stem cell differentiation into endothelial cells and to examine the functional status of the newly differentiated endothelial cells. Mouse adult multipotent progenitor cells (MAPCs) were used as the source of stem cells and were induced to differentiate into endothelial cells with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in serum-free medium. Expression of eNOS in the cells during differentiation was evaluated with real-time PCR, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity, and Western blot analysis. It was found that eNOS, but no other NOS, was present in undifferentiated MAPCs. eNOS expression disappeared in the cells immediately after induction of differentiation. However, eNOS expression reoccurred at day 7 during differentiation. Increasing eNOS mRNA, protein content, and activity were observed in the cells at days 14 and 21 during differentiation. The differentiated endothelial cells formed dense capillary networks on growth factor-reduced Matrigel. VEGF-stimulated phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-1 and ERK-2 occurred in these cells, which was inhibited by NOS inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that eNOS is present in MAPCs and is dynamically expressed during the differentiation of MAPCs into endothelial cells in vitro.
progenitor cells
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |