Abstract
Background and Objectives: Liver cirrhosis is accompanied by abnormal vascular shunts. The Wnt pathway is essential for endothelial cell survival and proliferation. C-reactive protein (CRP), which is produced by hepatocyte, activates angiogenesis in cardiovascular diseases. Methods and Results: The expression of CRP in CCl4-injured rat livers was detected using qRT-PCR and Western blotting after transplantation of placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PD-MSCs) into rats. To determine whether CRP functions in hepatic regeneration by promoting angiogenesis through the Wnt pathway, we detected VEGF and β-catenin in liver tissues and BrdU and β-catenin in hepatocytes by immunofluorescence. The expression levels of CRP, Wnt pathway-related and angiogenic factors were increased in CCl4-injured and PD-MSCs transplanted rat livers. In vitro, the expression levels of Wnt signaling and angiogenic factors were decreased in siRNA-CRP-transfected rat hepatocytes. Conclusions: CRP upregulation by PD-MSCs participates in vascular remodeling to promote liver regeneration via the Wnt signaling pathway during hepatic failure.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 404-413 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | International Journal of Stem Cells |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 ⓒ 2020 by the Korean Society for Stem Cell Research This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords
- C-reactive protein
- Liver cirrhosis
- Placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells
- Vascular remodeling
- Wnt pathway
