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The incidence of premature ovarian failure (POF), a condition causing amenorrhoea and hypergonadotropic hypoestrogenism in women before the age of 40, has been increasing in recent years.As an irreversible pathological change, improved treatment strategies for this disease are urgently needed.In this study, a type of microRNA (miR-17-3p) was used to guide the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into hormone-sensitive ovarian epithelial (OSE)-like cells in vitro.In order to prevent their morphological transformation into fibroblast-like cells, MiR-17-3p, a microRNA that suppresses vimentin expression, was transfected into human iPS cells.Subsequently, these cells were successfully induced into OSE-like cells in vitro after treatment with estrogen and cell growth factors.Compared with controls, iPS cells transfected with miR-17-3p expressed higher levels of epithelial markers (cytokeratin 7, AE1, AE3 and E-cadherin) and estrogen receptors (ERα and ER β) while levels of mesenchymal markers (fibronectin, vimentin and N-cadherin) lowered after the induction.The human iPS cell-derived OSE-like cells were then injected into cyclophosphamide-induced POF model mice to determine their potential benefit as grafts to repair ovarian tissues.The OSE-like cells survived within POF mouse ovaries for at least 14 days in vivo.Compared with the negative controls, expressions of cytokeratin 7 and ERβ proteins were elevated while fibronectin and vimentin levels in ovarian tissues were down-regulated in the OSE-like cell transplantation group.Moreover, the ovarian weight as well as plasma E2 level increased over time in the transplantion with OSE-like cells, compared with control groups.Hence, we can draw the conclusion that iPS cells can be induced to differentiate into OSE-like cells in vitro.