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Obestatin can potentially differentiate Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells into insulin-producing cells

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Abstract

In vitro-generation of β-cells from Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) could provide a potential basis for diabetes mellitus cell therapy. However, the generation of functional insulin-producing cells (IPCs) from WJ-MSCs remains a challenge. Recently, obestatin, a gut hormone, was found to promote β-cell generation from pancreatic precursor cells. Accordingly, we hypothesize that obestatin can induce the differentiation of WJ-MSCs into IPCs. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to examine the ability of obestatin to generate IPCs in comparison to well-known extrinsic factors that are commonly used in IPCs differentiation protocols from MSCs, namely exendin-4 and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). To achieve our aims, WJ-MSCs were isolated, cultured and characterized by immunophenotyping and adipocytes differentiation. Afterwards, WJ-MSCs were induced to differentiate into IPCs using two differentiation protocols incorporating either exendin-4, GLP-1 or obestatin. The pancreatic progenitor marker, nestin and β-cell differentiation markers were assessed by qRT-PCR, while the functionality of the generated IPCs was assessed by glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). Our results showed that WJ-MSCs exhibit all the characteristics of MSCs. Interestingly, using obestatin in both the short and long differentiation protocols managed to induce the expression of β-cell markers, similar to exendin-4. In GSIS, IPCs generated using either GLP-1 or obestatin showed higher secretion of insulin as compared to those generated using exendin-4 under low-glucose conditions but failed to show a significant response to increased glucose. These results indicate obestatin can be considered as a novel potential factor to consider for generation of IPCs from WJ-MSCs.

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Abbreviations

GLP-1:

Glucagon like peptide-1

GLP-1R:

Glucagon-like peptide-1 coupled receptors

GPR-39:

Glucagon like peptide receptor-39

IPCs:

Insulin-producing cells

iPSCs:

induced pluripotent stem cells

MSCs:

Mesenchymal stem cells

T1DM:

Type 1 diabetes mellitus

WJ:

Wharton’s jelly

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Funding

This research was partially funded by Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt as one of the Applied Researches Grants supported by the University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, Cairo, 11566, Egypt

    Rana K. El-Asfar, Mohamed M. Kamal, Rania S. Abd EL-Razek & Hala O. El-Mesallamy

  2. Pharmacology and Toxicology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, Cairo, 11566, Egypt

    Ebtehal EL-Demerdash

Authors
  1. Rana K. El-Asfar
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  2. Mohamed M. Kamal
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  3. Rania S. Abd EL-Razek
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  4. Ebtehal EL-Demerdash
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  5. Hala O. El-Mesallamy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hala O. El-Mesallamy.

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The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplemental Figure 1

Images of cells generated by either short or long differentiation protocols: Short protocol: (a) control cells, (b) exendin-4, (c) GLP-1 and (d)obestatin. Long protocol: (e) control cells, (f) exendin-4, (g) GLP-1 and (h) obestatin. Scale bar = 50 μm. (GIF 476 kb)

High resolution image (TIFF 874 kb)

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El-Asfar, R.K., Kamal, M.M., Abd EL-Razek, R.S. et al. Obestatin can potentially differentiate Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells into insulin-producing cells. Cell Tissue Res 372, 91–98 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-017-2725-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-017-2725-6

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