Abstract
Supporting cells(SCs) have been demonstrated to be a reliable source for regenerating hair cells(HCs). Previous research has reported that Lgr5+ SCs can regenerate HCs both in vitro and in vivo. However, there is limited knowledge about the impact of the material on Lgr5+ cells. In this study, Lgr5+ cells were isolated from neonatal Lgr5-EGFP-CreERT2 transgenic mice by flow cytometry and then plated on self-assembled silica beads (SB). Lgr5+ cell differentiation was observed by immunofluorescence. We found that in the direct differentiation assay, the SB group generated more hair cells than the control group(*p < 0.05). Especially in the SB group, Lgr5+ progenitors generated significantly more Myo7a+ HCs outside of the colony than in the control group(**p < 0.01). In the sphere differentiation assay, we found that the diameter of spheres in the SB group was significantly larger compared to those of the control group(**p < 0.01). However, the difference in the ratio of myo7a+ cell counts was not obvious(P>0.05). The experiment proved that the self-assembled silica beads could promote the differentiation of Lgr5+ progenitors in vitro. Our findings implicate that nanostructures of self-assembled silica beads can be used as vectors for stem cell research in the inner ear.
Funder
Nanjing Military Region Medical Scientific and Technical Innovation Foundation Projects of People’s Liberation Army of China
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)