Stem cells are a promising tool for treatment of a variety of degenerative diseases. Human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAECs) have desirable and unique characteristics that make them a proper candidate for cell therapy. In this study, we have investigated the effects of BMP-4 (bone morphogenetic protein-4) and its inhibition on differentiation of AECs into ectodermal lineages. Analysis of AEC-derived ectodermal lineages (neurons and keratinocytes) was performed by using flow cytometry technique for Map2 and β-tubulin (as neuron markers), Olig2 and MBP (as oligodendrocyte markers), and K14 and K10 (as keratinocyte markers). The results of this study illustrated that noggin (as BMP antagonist), BMP4, and both BMP4 and heparin (together or separately) increased neural and keratinocyte marker expression, respectively. The expression of markers MAP2, olig2, and K14 in hAECs has been significantly decreased 21 days after exposure to differentiation medium (without growth factors) compared with isolation day, which supports the hypothesis that AECs can be dedifferentiated into pluripotent cells. Moreover, activation and inhibition of BMP signaling have no effects on viability of hAECs. The results of this study showed that BMP signaling and its inhibition are the key factors for ectodermal lineage differentiation of amnion-derived stem cells.

中文翻译：

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骨形态发生蛋白（BMP）对人羊膜上皮干细胞表达外胚层谱系标志物的分化作用

干细胞是治疗各种退行性疾病的有前途的工具。人类羊膜上皮干细胞 (hAEC) 具有理想和独特的特性，使其成为细胞治疗的合适候选者。在这项研究中，我们研究了 BMP-4（骨形态发生蛋白 4）及其对 AEC 分化为外胚层谱系的抑制作用。AEC 衍生的外胚层谱系（神经元和角质形成细胞）的分析是通过使用流式细胞术技术对 Map2 和 β-微管蛋白（作为神经元标记物）、Olig2 和 MBP（作为少突胶质细胞标记物）以及 K14 和 K10（作为角质形成细胞标记物）进行的。该研究的结果表明，noggin（作为 BMP 拮抗剂）、BMP4 以及 BMP4 和肝素（一起或单独）分别增加了神经和角质形成细胞标记物的表达。与分离日相比，暴露于分化培养基（不含生长因子）后 21 天，hAEC 中标记物 MAP2、olig2 和 K14 的表达显着降低，这支持了 AEC 可以去分化为多能细胞的假设。此外，BMP 信号的激活和抑制对 hAEC 的活力没有影响。本研究结果表明，BMP信号及其抑制是羊膜干细胞外胚层谱系分化的关键因素。BMP 信号的激活和抑制对 hAEC 的活力没有影响。本研究结果表明，BMP信号及其抑制是羊膜干细胞外胚层谱系分化的关键因素。BMP 信号的激活和抑制对 hAEC 的活力没有影响。本研究结果表明，BMP信号及其抑制是羊膜干细胞外胚层谱系分化的关键因素。