Role of Hox genes in stem cell differentiation
- Hox genes are an evolutionary highly conserved gene family. They determine the anterior-posterior body axis in bilateral organisms and influence the developmental fate of cells. Embryonic stem cells are usually devoid of any Hox gene expression, but these transcription factors are activated in varying spatial and temporal patterns defining the development of various body regions. In the adult body, Hox genes are among others responsible for driving the differentiation of tissue stem cells towards their respective lineages in order to repair and maintain the correct function of tissues and organs. Due to their involvement in the embryonic and adult body, they have been suggested to be useable for improving stem cell differentiations in vitro and in vivo. In many studies Hox genes have been found as driving factors in stem cell differentiation towards adipogenesis, in lineages involved in bone and joint formation, mainly chondrogenesis and osteogenesis, in cardiovascular lineages including endothelial and smooth muscle cell differentiations, and in neurogenesis. As life expectancy is rising, the demand for tissue reconstruction continues to increase. Stem cells have become an increasingly popular choice for creating therapies in regenerative medicine due to their self-renewal and differentiation potential. Especially mesenchymal stem cells are used more and more frequently due to their easy handling and accessibility, combined with a low tumorgenicity and little ethical concerns. This review therefore intends to summarize to date known correlations between natural Hox gene expression patterns in body tissues and during the differentiation of various stem cells towards their respective lineages with a major focus on mesenchymal stem cell differentiations. This overview shall help to understand the complex interactions of Hox genes and differentiation processes all over the body as well as in vitro for further improvement of stem cell treatments in future regenerative medicine approaches.
Document Type: | Article |
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Language: | English |
Author: | Anne Seifert, David F. Werheid, Silvana M. Knapp, Edda Tobiasch |
Parent Title (English): | World Journal of Stem Cells |
Volume: | 7 |
Issue: | 3 |
First Page: | 583 |
Last Page: | 595 |
ISSN: | 1948-0210 |
URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:1044-opus-15069 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.4252/wjsc.v7.i3.583 |
PMID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25914765 |
Publisher: | Baishideng Publishing Group |
Publishing Institution: | Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg |
Date of first publication: | 2015/04/26 |
Copyright: | ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved. This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license |
Funding: | Supported by BMBF, AdiPaD, 1720X06, BMBF, FHprofUnt, FKZ: 03FH012PB2; FH-Extra, “Europäischer Fonds für regionale Entwicklung”, “Europa-Investition in unsere Zukunft”, FKZ: z1112fh012; EFRE co-financed NRW Ziel 2: “Regionale Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Beschäftigung”, DAAD, PPP Vigoni, FKZ: 314-vigoni-dr and FKZ: 54669218 for Edda Tobiasch. |
Keyword: | Asymmetric cell division; Cell lineage; Development; Genes; Growth; Homeobox; Mesenchymal stromal cells; Patterning; Regeneration; Stem cells |
Departments, institutes and facilities: | Fachbereich Angewandte Naturwissenschaften |
Projects: | MeMoAthero - FHprofUnt2012: Mechanismus und Modell der Atherosklerose: Entwicklung eines Medikamententestsystems für einen neuartigen Behandlungsansatz (DE/BMBF/03FH012PB2,13FH012PB2) |
Untersuchung des Einflusses ausdifferenzierender Adipozyten bei der Pathogenese des Diabetes mellitus Typ 2 (AdiPaD) (DE/BMBF/1720X06;1320X06) | |
Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC): | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
Entry in this database: | 2015/05/13 |
Licence (German): | Creative Commons - CC BY-NC - Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell 4.0 International |