Role of Hox Genes in Stem Cell Differentiation
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Submit a Manuscript: http://www.wjgnet.com/esps/ World J Stem Cells 2015 April 26; 7(3): 583-595 Help Desk: http://www.wjgnet.com/esps/helpdesk.aspx ISSN 1948-0210 (online) DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i3.583 © 2015 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved. REVIEW Role of Hox genes in stem cell differentiation Anne Seifert, David F Werheid, Silvana M Knapp, Edda Tobiasch Anne Seifert, David F Werheid, Silvana M Knapp, Edda of any Hox gene expression, but these transcription Tobiasch, Department of Applied Sciences, Bonn-Rhine-Sieg factors are activated in varying spatial and temporal University of Applied Sciences, 53359 Rheinbach, Germany patterns defining the development of various body Author contributions: Seifert A, Werheid DF, Knapp SM and regions. In the adult body, Hox genes are among others Tobiasch E contributed to this paper. responsible for driving the differentiation of tissue Supported by BMBF, AdiPaD, 1720X06, BMBF, FHprofUnt, stem cells towards their respective lineages in order to FKZ: 03FH012PB2; FH-Extra, “Europäischer Fonds für repair and maintain the correct function of tissues and regionale Entwicklung”, “Europa-Investition in unsere Zukunft”, FKZ: z1112fh012; EFRE co-financed NRW Ziel 2: “Regionale organs. Due to their involvement in the embryonic and Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Beschäftigung”, DAAD, PPP Vigoni, adult body, they have been suggested to be useable for FKZ: 314-vigoni-dr and FKZ: 54669218 for Edda Tobiasch. improving stem cell differentiations in vitro and in vivo . Conflict-of-interest: The authors certify that there is no conflict In many studies Hox genes have been found as driving of interest with any organization or entity with financial interests factors in stem cell differentiation towards adipogenesis, or non-financial interests, including commercial, personal, in lineages involved in bone and joint formation, mainly political, intellectual, or religious interests, regarding the material chondrogenesis and osteogenesis, in cardiovascular discussed in the manuscript. lineages including endothelial and smooth muscle cell Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was differentiations, and in neurogenesis. As life expectancy selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external is rising, the demand for tissue reconstruction continues reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, to increase. Stem cells have become an increasingly which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this popular choice for creating therapies in regenerative work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on medicine due to their self-renewal and differentiation different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and potential. Especially mesenchymal stem cells are used the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/ more and more frequently due to their easy handling licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and accessibility, combined with a low tumorgenicity Correspondence to: Edda Tobiasch, Professor, Department and little ethical concerns. This review therefore intends of Applied Sciences, Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University of Applied to summarize to date known correlations between Sciences, von-Liebig-Str. 20, 53359 Rheinbach, natural Hox gene expression patterns in body tissues Germany. [email protected] and during the differentiation of various stem cells Telephone: +49-2241-865576 towards their respective lineages with a major focus on Fax: +49-2241-8658576 Received: July 29, 2014 mesenchymal stem cell differentiations. This overview Peer-review started: July 29, 2014 shall help to understand the complex interactions of Hox First decision: October 16, 2014 genes and differentiation processes all over the body Revised: December 1, 2014 as well as in vitro for further improvement of stem cell Accepted: December 16, 2014 treatments in future regenerative medicine approaches. Article in press: December 17, 2014 Published online: April 26, 2015 Key words: Genes; Homeobox; Stem cells; Asymmetric cell division; Mesenchymal stromal cells; Growth; Development; Regeneration; Patterning; Cell lineage Abstract © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved. Hox genes are an evolutionary highly conserved gene family. They determine the anterior-posterior body axis in bilateral organisms and influence the developmental Core tip: Hox genes are involved in embryonic development fate of cells. Embryonic stem cells are usually devoid as well as in repair mechanisms in the adult body, thus WJSC|www.wjgnet.com 583 April 26, 2015|Volume 7|Issue 3| Seifert A et al . Hox genes in differentiations regulating cell fate. These genes have also been found to be character in certain niches, since it is also regulated on driving factors in various stem cell differentiations in vitro an epigenetic level[12]. and in vivo which makes them interesting tools for future This review will outline the Hox profile of various improvements in stem cell therapies. Therefore, this review stem cells, and discuss the wide range of findings outlines the involvement of Hox genes in various stem cell concerning Hox genes in stem cell differentiations differentiations with a major emphasis on mesenchymal gathered over the last decade. The nomenclature stem cell differentiations. used for Hox genes in this study is according to the current regulations, meaning that Hox genes related to findings in mice and rats are written with the first letter Seifert A, Werheid DF, Knapp SM, Tobiasch E. Role of Hox genes capitalized, whereas the following are in small capitals in stem cell differentiation. World J Stem Cells 2015; 7(3): 583-595 (e.g., Hoxc8). For findings in human and chicken, all Available from: URL: http://www.wjgnet.com/1948-0210/full/v7/ letters are capitalized (e.g., HOXC8). Understanding the i3/583.htm DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4252/wjsc.v7.i3.583 principle behind the role of Hox genes in differentiations and development may provide improved possibilities to alter stem cell fate in vitro and in vivo, and therefore might result in new or improved approaches in reg- INTRODUCTION enerative medicine. The life expectancy of the overall population has Therapeutic approaches are more and more based increased in most countries, accompanied by an increase on the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), due to in injuries, diseases, and age related degenerative their easy accessibility and handling compared to other diseases. Thus, reconstructions of hard and soft tissues kinds of stem cells. Hence, we put specific emphasis are an increasing challenge in regenerative medicine[1]. on the differentiation lineages of MSCs within this Stem cells could help to overcome these restrictions review. using their self-renewal and differentiation properties, with or without biomaterials or artificial scaffolds[1-3]. Numerous sources are known from which stem cells HOX TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS IN can be isolated, often with a varying differentiation STEM CELLS potential[4]. Additionally, the commitment might depend on the body site from which the stem cells were isolated[4,5]. Embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can be gained from the In vivo, stem cell fate is determined according to tissues inner cell mass of the blastocyst and are therefore and thus extracellular but also intracellular factors, derived from an early stage embryo[13,14]. They are among them p53, purinergic receptors, collagens, parathyroid hormone-related proteins, or homeobox characterized by various markers, having the most (Hox) genes[6-9]. The later are the central players in significant surface markers SSEA-1, SSEA-3, SSEA-4 [15] determining regional specificity in the developing as well as TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81 . Additionally embryo and not astonishingly also in numerous ESCs are positive for the transcription factors NANOG [16,17] differentiations[10]. and OCT3/4 . Their pluripotency, the potential to The Hox gene family consists of 39 members, differentiate into each cell lineage and all types of cells which are clustered in four paralogous groups and of the body, and the proliferation rate causes huge [18,19] are numbered from 1-13 within the groups. During interest in this stem cell type . An active repression embryogenesis, Hox genes show an expression pattern of Hox clusters has been demonstrated in various which is specific for each body region, commonly studies. On the other hand Hox genes are activated [20] referred to as the HOX code. They are an evolutionary when differentiation processes take place . However, highly conserved collection of genes binding to various it is not known which Hox code exactly commits these [20] DNA recognition sites and thus influencing a cell’s cells into the different lineages, yet . developmental fate in a huge variety of species, while determining the anterior-posterior body axis[11] (Figure Hematopoietic stem cells 1). The precise function of these genes is achieved by Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the best chara- their specific temporal and spatial activation over the cterized type of adult stem cells[21]. They can be obtained course of life. Due to this role in embryonic and adult from bone marrow, cytokine-mobilized peripheral blood, developmental stages, Hox genes are expected to also and cord blood[22]. HSCs are characterized with the have fundamental influences on the differentiation of antigen cell-surface markers CD34, C-KIT, TIE, and various stem cells in