This study was aimed to investigate the role of Wnt/â-catenin signaling pathway in the differentiation from periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) to Schwann cells (SCs) and the possible mechanisms. FzB was applied to inhibit the Wnt/â-catenin signaling pathway of differentiated PDLSCs (dPDLSCs), and then immunofluorescence, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and Western blotting analysis were performed to detect SC marker genes and proteins such as S100, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and P75NTR. Results showed that when the Wnt/â-catenin signaling pathway was inhibited, the expression of S100, GFAP, and P75NTR protein significantly decreased in dPDLSCs, p < 0.05, whereas PCR results showed that expression of SC myelinogenesis-related genes krox-20, Oct-6, P0, and PMP-22 was significantly downregulated at the same time, p < 0.05. These results showed that Wnt/â-catenin signaling pathway participated in the differentiation from PDLSCs to SCs, and inhibiting it could inhibit the differentiation process.
Animals Cell Transdifferentiation