Sox9 Is Crucial For Mesenchymal Stem Cells To Enhance Cutaneous Wound Healing

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSCs) are promising candidatesfor cell-based therapy in regenerative medicine or other diseases due to their superior characteristics, including higherproliferation, faster self-renewal ability, lower immunogenicity, a noninvasive harvest procedure, easy expansion in vitro,and ethical access, compared with stem cells from other sources.Methods and Results: In the present study, we knocked down the expression of SOX9 in HUC-MSCs by lentivirusinterference and found that knockdown of SOX9 inhibited the proliferation and migration of HUC-MSCs and influencedthe expression of cytokines (IL-6 and IL-8), growth factors (GM-CSF and VEGF) and stemness-related genes(OCT4 and SALL4). In addition, the repair effect of skin with burn injury in rats treated with HUC-MSCs transfectedwith sh-control was better than that rats treated with HUC-MSCs transfected with shSOX9 or PBS, and the accessorystructures of the skin, including hair follicles and glands, were greater than those in the other groups. We found thatknockdown of the expression of SOX9 obviously inhibited the expression of Ki67, CK14 and CK18.Conclusions: In conclusion, this study will provide a guide for modifying HUC-MSCs by bioengineering technologyin the future