Effect of Hypoxia on the Differentiation and the Self-Renewal of Metanephrogenic Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Figure 6

Stimulation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway helps to maintain the stemness of MMSCs. MMSCs were treated as in Figure 4. Identification of stem cell-related cell surface markers (SIX-2 and CITED1) was performed via flow cytometry. (a)-(b) Results of flow cytometry show that the number of stem cells was decreased in hypoxia-cultured cells compared with those under normoxic conditions. Activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway with LiCl or BIO attenuated the negative effect of hypoxia on stemness, as evidenced by an increased percentage of SIX-2 and CITED1-positive cells among LiCl- or BIO-treated cells. (c)-(d) Group data from flow cytometry. ; ; ; . Data are represented as mean ± SD. (e)–(g) Expressions of SIX-2 and CITED1 were detected by western blotting. The results show that treatment with LiCl and BIO increased the protein level of SIX-2 and CITED1; ; ; . Data are represented as mean ± SD.

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