Abstract
Bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) represent an interesting alternative to liver or hepatocyte transplantation to treat liver injuries. Many studies have reported that MSCs can treat several diseases, including liver damage, just by injection into the bloodstream, without evidence of differentiation. The improvements were attributed to the organotrophic factors, low immunogenicity, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory effects of MSCs, rather than their differentiation. The aim of the present study was to answer the question of whether the presence of BM-MSCs in the hepatic microenvironment will lead to their differentiation to functional hepatocyte-like cells. The hepatic microenvironment was mimicked
in vitro
by culture for 21 d with liver extract. The resulted cells expressed marker genes of the hepatic lineage including
AFP
,
CK18
, and
Hnf4a
. Functionally, they were able to detoxify ammonia into urea, to store glycogen as observed by PAS staining, and to synthesize glucose from pyruvate/lactate mixture. Phenotypically, the expression of MSC surface markers CD90 and CD105 decreased by differentiation. This evidenced differentiation into hepatocyte-like cells was accompanied by a downregulation of the stem cell marker genes
sox2
and
Nanog
and the cell cycle regulatory genes
ANAPC2
,
CDC2
,
Cyclin A1
, and
ABL1
. The present results suggest a clear differentiation of BM-MSCs into functional hepatocyte-like cells by the extracted liver microenvironment. This differentiation is confirmed by a decrease in the stemness and mitotic activities. Tracking transplanted BM-MSCs and proving their
in vivo
differentiation remains to be elucidated.