Upregulation of Neurotrophic Factors and Myelin Basic Protein inSchwann-like Cells by T3 Hormone Following Transdifferentiation ofHuman Adipose-derived Stem Cells

Peripheral nerve regeneration is a complicated phenomenon. Thyroid hormones are known as critical
regulators in the nervous system development. The Schwann cells have the regenerative potency in the
peripheral nervous system. In this study, the human adipose
-derived stem cells were assessed in vitro,
for transdifferentiation potency into Shwann
-like cells (SLCs) as a candidate source for clinical cell
therapy, under the treatment of triiodothyronine (T3) hormone, and compared with the untreated cells.
The cell viability rate, myelination and neurotrophic factors expression of SLCs were evaluated two
weeks post
- induction by MTT assay, immunocytochemistry and real
-time RT
-PCR techniques,
respectively. The obtained results revealed a significant decrease in SLCs viability, compared to the
adipose
-derived stem cells (P < 0.001). Immunocytochemistry technique was applied to detect SLCs
markers, such as S100β, GFAP and myelin basic proteins (MBP) in the presence and absence of T3
treatment. The results indicated that administering T3 can significantly increase the differentiation and
myelination potency of SLCs (P < 0.01). The findings of real
-time RT
-PCR technique indicated that
the expression of Schwann cells markers, MBP, brain
-derived neurotrophic factor and glial cell
-derived
neurotrophic factor were upregulated significantly with T3 hormone administration in comparison with
the untreated cells (P < 0.05). The SLCs were able to express the neurotrophic factors and myelination
related genes in the presence of T3 hormone. Furthermore, T3 administration improved myelination
potency of adipose
-derived stem cells, in vitro. Further in vivo experiments are necessary to confirm
the advantages of using a combination of autologous SLCs and T3 hormone for peripheral nerve injury
recovery.