MEST Regulates the Stemness of Human Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells

• Published in: Stem cells international Vol. 2020; no. 2020; pp. 1 - 15
• Main Authors: Wada, Naohisa, Kiyoshima, Tamotsu, Maeda, Hidefumi, Hamano, Sayuri, Tomokiyo, Atsushi, Arima, Mai, Mitarai, Hiromi, Yoshida, Shinichiro, Kaneko, Hiroshi, Hasegawa, Kana, Hasegawa, Daigaku, Sugii, Hideki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2020; Hindawi; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Annealing; Antibodies; Biomarkers; Biomedical materials; Cadherins; CD105 antigen; Cell differentiation; Chondrocytes; Cytology; Cytoplasm; DNA microarrays; Fibroblasts; Flow cytometry; Gene expression; Laboratories; Ligaments; Mesoderm; Morphology; N-Cadherin; Osteoblasts; Periodontal ligament; Regeneration; siRNA; Stem cells; Tissue engineering; Transcription; Japan
• ISSN: 1687-966X; 1687-9678; 1687-9678
• DOI: 10.1155/2020/9672673

Periodontal ligament (PDL) stem cells (PDLSCs) have been reported as a useful cell source for periodontal tissue regeneration. However, one of the issues is the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of PDLSCs for clinical application because very few PDLSCs can be isolated from PDL tissue of donors. Therefore, we aimed to identify a specific factor that converts human PDL cells into stem-like cells. In this study, microarray analysis comparing the gene profiles of human PDLSC lines (2-14 and 2-23) with those of a cell line with a low differentiation potential (2-52) identified the imprinted gene mesoderm-specific transcript (MEST). MEST was expressed in the cytoplasm of 2-23 cells. Knockdown of MEST by siRNA in 2-23 cells inhibited the expression of stem cell markers, such as CD105, CD146, p75NTR, N-cadherin, and NANOG; the proliferative potential; and multidifferentiation capacity for osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes. On the other hand, overexpression of MEST in 2-52 cells enhanced the expression of stem cell markers and PDL-related markers and the multidifferentiation capacity. In addition, MEST-overexpressing 2-52 cells exhibited a change in morphology from a spindle shape to a stem cell-like round shape that was similar to 2-14 and 2-23 cell morphologies. These results suggest that MEST plays a critical role in the maintenance of stemness in PDLSCs and converts PDL cells into PDLSC-like cells. Therefore, this study indicates that MEST may be a therapeutic factor for periodontal tissue regeneration by inducing PDLSCs.