Epimorphin-induced differentiation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into sweat gland cells.

OBJECTIVES: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the potential for multi-directional differentiation and can be induced to differentiate into sweat gland cells under certain conditions. Epimorphin (EPM) plays an important role in the promotion of epithelial cell morphogenesis; however, its effect on sweat gland-cell differentiation of MSCs remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate how EPM regulates sweat gland cell differentiation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: hUCMSCs were labeled with 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) before differentiation induction; were cultured in common culture medium, conditioned medium, or EPM-conditioned medium; and then induced to differentiate into sweat gland cells. Five days after induction, the expression rates of the sweat gland-cell antigens cytokeratin 14 (CK14), cytokeratin 19 (CK19), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in hUCMSCs were detected by flow cytometry, and the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and protein levels of CK14, CK19, and CEA were determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot, respectively. RESULTS: hUCMSCs can be induced to differentiate into sweat gland cells in conditioned medium, and expression of CEA was detected by immunofluorescence assay. Flow cytometry results showed that the expression rate of the sweat gland-cell antigens CK14, CK19, and CEA in the conditioned medium were significantly lower than that in the EPM conditioned medium (p < 0.05). RT-PCR and western blot results showed that the mRNA and protein levels of CK14, CK19, and CEA in the conditioned medium were all significantly lower than that in the EPM-conditioned medium (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that EPM can effectively induce the differentiation of hUCMSCs into sweat gland cells.