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Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells inhibit proliferation of hepatic stellate cells in vitro
Open accessAbstract
The effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) on the proliferation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore the mechanism of action of hUC‑MSCs on the proliferation of HSCs in vitro. The upper and lower double-cell co-culture system was established between hUC‑MSCs and HSCs in the experimental group. HSCs were cultured alone as a negative control group. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Cell supernatants were harvested to determine the concentration of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) by ELISA. mRNA and protein of TGF-β1, Smad3 and Smad7 in HSCs were determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, respectively. In the co-culture group, the proliferation of HSCs was significantly inhibited compared with the negative control group at 24 and 48 h (p<0.05). Apoptosis of HSCs in the co-culture group increased compared with that in the negative control group, which was more obvious at 48 h (p<0.05). The concentration of TGF-β1 in the co-culture group was significantly lower than in the HSCs cultured alone (p<0.05). After HSCs were co-cultured with hUC‑MSCs for 48 h, expression of TGF-β1 and Smad3 mRNA and protein was reduced and expression of Smad7 mRNA and protein was increased compared with the negative control group (p<0.05). hUC‑MSCs inhibited proliferation of HSCs, possibly through inhibiting TGF-β1 and Smad3 expression and increasing Smad7 protein expression.
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UC-MSCs impair HSC proliferation by inhibiting the expression of TGFβ-1 and Smad3 and increasing the expression of Smad7.
“Zhang et al. reported that UC-MSCs impair HSC proliferation by inhibiting the expression of TGFβ-1 and Smad3 and increasing the expression of Smad7 [186].”
From Mechanisms, efficacy, and future perspectives of cellular-based therapies for liver fibrosis/cirrhosis: focusing on mesenchymal stromal cells (2025) · cites this paper as [186]
The Abstract and Results report inhibited HSC proliferation, reduced TGF-β1 and Smad3 expression, and increased Smad7 expression in co-culture. The Abstract describes the proposed mechanism as occurring “possibly through” those expression changes, whereas the citing sentence states that causal mechanism without qualification. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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Research works printed but not linked: 22
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mesenchymal stromal cells in hepatic fibrosis/cirrhosis: from pathogenesis to treatment
Yang, X., Li, Q., Liu, W., Zong, C., Wei, L., Shi, Y., & Han, Z. (2023) · Cellular & Molecular Immunology · doi:10.1038/s41423-023-00983-5 · Cited by 120
Pan, X., Gao, T., & Wang, B. (2025) · Cell & Bioscience · doi:10.1186/s13578-025-01520-9 · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Zhang, L.-T., Peng, X.-B., Fang, X.-Q., Li, J.-F., Chen, H., & Mao, X.-R.
- Affiliations
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, P.R. China
- Baoji City Central Hospital (CN)
- First Hospital of Lanzhou University (CN)
- ORCID
- Chen, Hong
- Venue
- International Journal of Molecular Medicine
- Publisher
- Spandidos Publications
- Published
- 2018-02-16
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 2545-2552
- ISSN
- 1107-3756 (ISSN-L)
- 1791-244X
- PMC
- PMC5846650
- OpenAlex
- W2793766128
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 1.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- International Journal of Molecular Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Lanzhou University Institutional Repository (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Mesenchymal stem cell research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Liver physiology and pathology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › TGF-β signaling in diseases
- Keywords
- human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells, hepatic stellate cells, cell proliferation, apoptosis, TGF-β1, Smad3, Smad7, co-culture, liver fibrosis
- MeSH terms
- Cell Line, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Umbilical Cord, Apoptosis, Coculture Techniques, Cell Proliferation, Smad3 Protein, Smad7 Protein, Transforming Growth Factor beta1, Hepatic Stellate Cells, Mesenchymal Stem Cells
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