Abstract To overcome loss of stem-like properties and spontaneous differentiation those hinder the expansion and application of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), we have clonally isolated permanent and stable human MSC lines by ectopic overexpression of primary cell cultures of hMSCs with HPV 16 E6E7 and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) genes. These cells were found to have a differentiation potential far beyond the ordinary hMSCs. They expressed trophoectoderm and germline specific markers upon differentiation with BMP4 and retinoic acid, respectively. Furthermore, they displayed higher. | Tsai et al. Journal of Biomedical Science 2010 17 64 http content 17 1 64 The cost of publication in Journal of Biomedical Science Is borne by the National Science Council Taiwan JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH Open Access Overexpression of hTERT increases stem-like properties and decreases spontaneous differentiation in human mesenchymal stem cell lines Chih-Chien Tsai1t Chun-Li Chen2t Hwa-Chung Liu3 Yi-Ting Lee1 4 Hsei-Wei Wang5 Lein-Tuan H ou2 Shih-Chieh Hung1 4 Abstract To overcome loss of stem-like properties and spontaneous differentiation those hinder the expansion and application of human mesenchymal stem cells hMSCs we have clonally isolated permanent and stable human MSC lines by ectopic overexpression of primary cell cultures of hMSCs with HPV 16 E6E7 and human telomerase reverse transcriptase hTERT genes. These cells were found to have a differentiation potential far beyond the ordinary hMSCs. They expressed trophoectoderm and germline specific markers upon differentiation with BMP4 and retinoic acid respectively. Furthermore they displayed higher osteogenic and neural differentiation efficiency than primary hMSCs or hMSCs expressed HPV16 E6E7 alone with a decrease in methylation level as proven by a global CpG island methylation profile analysis. Notably the demethylated CpG islands were highly associated with development and differentiation associated genes. Principal component analysis further pointed out the expression profile of the cells converged toward embryonic stem cells. These data demonstrate these cells not only are a useful tool for the studies of cell differentiation both for the mesenchymal and neurogenic lineages but also provide a valuable source of cells for cell therapy studies in animal models of skeletal and neurological disorders. Introduction Bone marrow derived human mesenchymal stem cells hMSCs are considered one of the most promising and prospective resources for cell and gene therapy in .
