miR-302 regulates pluripotency, teratoma formation and differentiation in stem cells via an AKT1/OCT4-dependent manner

Cell Death Dis. 2016 Jan 28;7(1):e2078. doi: 10.1038/cddis.2015.383.

Abstract

Pluripotency makes human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) promising for regenerative medicine, but the teratoma formation has been considered to be a major obstacle for their clinical applications. Here, we determined that the downregulation of miR-302 suppresses the teratoma formation, hampers the self-renewal and pluripotency, and promotes hPSC differentiation. The underlying mechanism is that the high endogenous expression of miR-302 suppresses the AKT1 expression by directly targeting its 3'UTR and subsequently maintains the pluripotent factor OCT4 at high level. Our findings reveal that miR-302 regulates OCT4 by suppressing AKT1, which provides hPSCs two characteristics related to their potential for clinical applications: the benefit of pluripotency and the hindrance of teratoma formation. More importantly, we demonstrate that miR-302 upregulation cannot lead OCT4 negative human adult mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) to acquire the teratoma formation in vivo. Whether miR-302 upregulation can drive hMSCs to acquire a higher differentiation potential is worthy of deep investigation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult Stem Cells / cytology
  • Adult Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Adult Stem Cells / physiology
  • Animals
  • Cell Cycle / genetics
  • Cell Differentiation / physiology
  • Heterografts
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred NOD
  • Mice, Nude
  • Mice, SCID
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism
  • MicroRNAs / physiology*
  • Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / genetics
  • Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / metabolism*
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / cytology
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / physiology*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / metabolism*
  • Teratoma / genetics
  • Teratoma / pathology
  • Transfection

Substances

  • MIRN302A microRNA, human
  • MicroRNAs
  • Octamer Transcription Factor-3
  • POU5F1 protein, human
  • AKT1 protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt