Effects of leukemia inhibitory factor receptor on the adipogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Abstract

leukemia inhibitory factor (UF) modulates various biological processes. Although previous studies have described the effects of LIF on adipocyte differentiation, the role of LIF receptor (LIFR) on adipocyte differentiation remains unclear. Using reverse transcription-quantitative PcR (RT-qPcR), LIFR expression was demonstrated to increase during adipogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hMScs), indicating that LIFR may be involved in this process. To further evaluate the association between LIFR and adipogenic differentia¬ tion, lentivirus-mediated LIFR knockdown was performed in hMScs. cells were divided into two groups: Negative control group and LIFR-knockdown group. During the adipogenic differentiation process, intracellular lipid accumulation was assessed with Oil Red O staining at various time points (days 3, 6 and 9). Additionally, the mRNA and protein expres¬ sion levels of LIF, LIFR and three molecular indicators of adipogenesis, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor y (PPARy), CCAAT enhancer binding protein a (C/EBPa) and fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4/aP2), were assessed by RT-qPCR and western blotting. The culture supernatant was collected to evaluate the concentration of LIF using ELISA. The present results suggested that LIFR expression progres¬ sively increased during adipogenic differentiation of hMSCs. Conversely, LIFR knockdown significantly suppressed this process. Additionally, PPARy, C/EBPa and aP2 were inhib¬ ited following LIFR knockdown. In contrast with LIFR, the expression levels of LIF were significantly decreased after the initiation of adipogenic differentiation. Therefore, the expression levels of LIF and LIFR exhibited opposite trends. Collectively, the present results suggested that LIFR promoted adipogenic differentiation, whereas LIF may negatively regulate this process.