Enhanced expression of hepatocyte-specific microRNAs in valproic acid mediated hepatic trans-differentiation of human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells

• Valproic acid, a histone deacetylases inhibitor (HDACI) to induce hepatic trans-differentiation of human umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs).
• VPA improved hepatic trans-differentiation by enhancing expression of hepatocyte-specific miRNAs.
• Acetylation status of histone H3 and H4 was examined to elucidate role of VPA.
• The establishment of novel protocols to acquire hepatocyte like cells (HLCs) for cell based therapies.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the control of cell fate determination during differentiation. In this study, we analyzed the expression pattern of microRNAs (miRNAs) during hepatic trans-differentiation. The protocol employed the use of histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACI), valproic acid (VPA) to induce hepatic trans-differentiation of human umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs). The differentiated hepatocyte like cells (HLCs) from hUC-MSCs shared typical characteristics with mature hepatocytes, including morphology, expression of hepatocyte –specific genes at the molecular and cellular level. Moreover, the functionality of HLCs was confirmed through various liver function tests such as periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain for glycogen accumulation, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for synthesis of albumin and release of urea. The aim of the present work was to examine the effect of VPA treatment on miRNA expression during hepatic trans-differentiation. The analysis at miRNA level showed that there was a significant increase in expression of miRNAs involved in hepatic differentiation, due to VPA pre-treatment during differentiation. The study, thus demonstrated that improved expression of hepatocyte-specific miRNAs, miR-23b cluster (miR-27b-3p, miR-24-1-5p and miR-23b-3p), miR-30a-5p, miR-26a-5p, miR-148a-3p, miR-192-5p, miR-122-5p due to VPA pre-treatment contributed to a more efficient hepatic trans-differentiation from hUC-MSCs. The putative targets of these upregulated miRNAs were predicted using Bioinformatics analysis. Finally, miR-122-5p, highly upregulated miRNA during hepatic differentiation, was selected for target verification studies. Thus, this study also provides the basis for the function of miR-122-5p during hepatic differentiation of hUC-MSCs.