Phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C/heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70)/transcription factor B-cell translocation gene 2 signaling in rat bone marrow stromal cell differentiation to cholinergic neuron-like cells

Although bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) can differentiate into neuron-like cells, the mechanisms underlying neuronal differentiation are not well understood. We recently found that inhibition of phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) by its inhibitor D609 promoted BMSCs’ differentiation into cholinergic neuron-like cells. Using the effective small molecule D609 and gene microarray technology, we investigated the change of gene expression profile to identify key mediators involved in the neuronal differentiation. We selected heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and transcription factor B-cell translocation gene 2 (Btg2) that were maximally up-regulated for further study. We found that functional suppression of Hsp70 blocked D609-induced increase of Btg2 expression and cholinergic neuronal differentiation of BMSCs. These results demonstrated that Hsp70 was the pivotal factor in PC-PLC-medicated neuronal differentiation of BMSCs, and Btg2 might be its downstream target. Our findings provide new clues for controlling BMSCs’ differentiation into cholinergic neuron-like cells and provide a putative strategy for neurodegenerative diseases therapies.

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► We found D609 induced BMSC differentiation to cholinergic neuron-like cells.
► Hsp70 participated in the neural differentiation of BMSCs directly.
► Hsp70 modulated neural differentiation of BMSCs through Btg2.