The Role of CD49f - Integrin α6- in Human Stem Cell Biology

Owing to the intrinsic capability for unlimited self-renewal and the ability to make all the cells in the body, pluripotent stem cells (PSC) are an ideal candidate to be used as starting material for cell therapies. The development of a standard human PSC (hPSC), which includes embryonic stem cells (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC), culture methods using completely defined and xeno-free culture environment will advance our knowledge of hPSC biology, and also increase the effectiveness of hPSC expansion on defined conditions for potential human applications. It has been shown that stem cell fates are controlled by their specialized microenvironment, the stem cell niche, via direct cell-cell interactions, cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) contact- largely by surface proteins known as integrins- and the molecular signals emitting from the niche. Activation of integrins by binding to their ligands triggers signal transduction mechanisms involved in cell fate determination. In addition, because of their cell surface localization, integrins are used as biological markers to identify cell populations, and in this regard, integrin α6 (ITGA6), also known as CD49f, is a key biomarker identifying stem cells as it is commonly expressed in all identified stem cell types. Although, numerous findings strongly suggest that CD49f plays important functions in stem cell biology, the underlying molecular mechanisms by which CD49f sustain stem cell’s self-renewal have been only partially described. In this project I have established a chemically defined and xeno-free culture condition for long-term maintenance and derivation of hPSC using chemically defined and xeno-free culture conditions. I also described a novel molecular mechanism involved in the maintenance of self-renewal and proliferation of hPSC using simulated microgravity (sμg). Moreover, my results highlighted CD49f as a reliable biomarker in identifying and characterizing functional status of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC).