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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Stem Cell Research
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1478757

Deciphering transcriptome patterns in porcine mesenchymal stem cells promoting phenotypic maintenance and differentiation by key driver genes

Provisionally accepted
Nadia Khaveh Nadia Khaveh 1René Buschow René Buschow 2Julia Metzger Julia Metzger 1*
  • 1 Institute for Animal Genomics, Veterinary Functional Genomics, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hanover, Germany
  • 2 Microscopy and Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are fibroblast-like non-hematopoietic cells with self-renewal and differentiation capacity, and thereby great potential in regeneration and wound healing.MSC populations are heterogeneous not only inherently, but also among different model species. In particular, porcine MSC serve as a frequently used resource for translational research, due to pigs' distinctive closeness to human anatomy and physiology. However, information on gene expression profiles from porcine MSC and its dynamics during differentiation is sparse, especially with regard to cell surface and inner cell markers. In this study, we investigated the transcriptome of bone marrow-derived MSC and its differentiated cell types in a minipig breed for experimental research, known as Mini-LEWE, using bulk mRNA sequencing. Our data highlighted Rap1 signaling and downstream pathways PI3K-Akt and MAPK signaling as potential players for the maintenance of stemness of BM-MSC. In addition, we were able to link the process of differentiation to changes in the regulation of actin cytoskeleton. A total of 18 "BM-MSC differentiation driver markers" were identified, potentially promoting the process of differentiation into adipocytes, chondrocytes as well as osteocytes. Our results offer a new perspective on the molecular phenotype of porcine BM-MSC and the transcriptional responses in new differentiated progeny.

    Keywords: Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Bone Marrow, Transcriptome, RNA-Seq, pig, Mini-Lewe, differentiation

    Received: 10 Aug 2024; Accepted: 28 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Khaveh, Buschow and Metzger. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Julia Metzger, Institute for Animal Genomics, Veterinary Functional Genomics, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hanover, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.