The potential role of integrin alpha 6 in human mesenchymal stem cells

Abstract

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are isolated from various adult and perinatal tissues. Although mesenchymal stem cells from multiple sources exhibit similar morphology and cell surface markers, they differ in their properties. In this study, we determined that the expression of integrin alpha 6 (ITGA6) and ITGA6 antisense RNA (ITGA6-AS1) correlates with the proliferation, cell size, and differentiation potential. The expression of ITGA6 was inversely correlated with ITGA6-AS1 in MSCs. The expression of ITGA6 was higher, but ITGA6-AS1 was lower in MSCs from cord placenta junction, cord tissue, and Wharton’s jelly. In contrast, ITGA6 expression was lower, while ITGA6-AS1 was higher in MSCs from the placenta. The bioinformatic analysis showed that ITGA6 genomic DNA transcribes ITGA6-AS1 from the reverse strand, overlapping ITGA6 exon-2. Additionally, we identify several putative promoters (P1-P10) of ITGA6. ITGA6-P10 is CG rich and contains CGI. EMBOSS Cpgplot software revealed a CGI length of 180 bp that extends from nucleotide 125 to 304 of the P10 sequence. We suggest that the post-transcriptional regulation of the ITGA6 in mesenchymal stem cells is controlled by the ITGA6-AS1, which could be a critical factor responsible for the heterogeneity in function and cell fate of human MSCs. These results may provide further impetus for investigations to unravel the mechanisms of ITGA6 regulation that could help maintain or improve the properties of mesenchymal stem cells.

Characteristics of m6A-related LncRNAs in breast cancer as prognostic biomarkers and immunotherapy

“…The integrin family is an important group of proteins, including integrin alpha (ITGA) and beta proteins. In ITGA, ITGA6, also known as CD49f, is a transmembrane glycoprotein adhesion receptor protein 22 . ITGA6-AS1, as an antisense non-coding RNA of ITGA6, can specifically target ITGA6 and lead to its increased expression, thereby regulating the occurrence and aggressiveness of breast cancer and secondary plasmacytic leukaemia 23 ( Figure 7 B ).…”

A Simplified and Effective Approach for the Isolation of Small Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived from Human Peripheral Blood

“…The expression intensity of HSPB1, another heat-shock protein, has been correlated with the differentiation status of stem cells; HSPB1 is overexpressed in undifferentiating stem cells and downregulated in stem cells already committed towards a differentiation pathway [ 100 , 101 , 102 ]. ITGA6, an integrin α-6 or otherwise known as CD49f, has been shown to be expressed in various stem cells, having a significant role in self-renewal and proliferation [ 103 , 104 , 105 ]. MAPK1, otherwise known as Erk2, along with Erk1, are two kinases with significant roles in cell proliferation [ 106 , 107 , 108 ], and their expression has been shown to be crucial for the survival and self-renewal of hematopoietic stem cells [ 109 , 110 , 111 ].…”

WNT and VEGF/PDGF signaling regulate self-renewal in primitive mesenchymal stem cells

“…Studies have shown that CD90 level is decreased upon differentiation of MSCs (33,34). In contrast, CD49f is a self-renewal marker expressed in over 30 types of stem cells (35,36).…”