Activation of wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway down regulated osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived stem cells in an anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia patient with EDA/EDAR/EDARADD mutation

Dong-Yu Bao; Yun Yang; Xin Tong; Hai-Yan Qin

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23057

Activation of wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway down regulated osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived stem cells in an anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia patient with EDA/EDAR/EDARADD mutation

Heliyon. 2023 Dec 9;10(1):e23057. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23057. eCollection 2024 Jan 15.

Authors

Dong-Yu Bao^{1

2}, Yun Yang¹, Xin Tong², Hai-Yan Qin¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Stomatology, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School. 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, 210008, China.
² Department of Dental Implantology, Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, No.30 Zhongyang Road, Nanjing, 210008, China.

Abstract

Objective: To explore the mechanism by which the Wnt/β-catenin pathway induces osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs) in anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (AED) with an Ectodysplasin A (EDA)/EDA receptor (EDAR)/EDARADD mutation.

Methods: An AED patient served as the AED group, whereas the other patients without AED were included in the normal group. Peripheral venous blood collected from the AED patient was subjected to whole-genome resequencing. BMSCs from the mandible of patients with AED and normal individuals were isolated and cultured in vitro. Cell proliferation assay was performed to compare the growth speed of BMSCs between the AED and normal groups. CHIR-99021, an activator of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and XAV-939, an inhibitor, was used to manage BMSCs in an osteogenic environment in both groups. The expression of β-catenin was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, while that of RUNX2 was detected by western blotting. Alizarin red was used for staining.

Results: A novel mutation (c.152T > A in EDA) and two known mutations (c.1109T > C in EDAR and c.27G > A in EDARADD) were identified. The growth rate in the normal group was higher than that in the AED group. In the normal group, the number and size of calcified nodes and the expression of RUNX-2 increased with CHIR-99021 treatment, which could be inhibited by XAV-939. In contrast, CHIR-99021 inhibited osteogenesis in the AED group and this effect was promoted by XAV-939.

Conclusion: Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway downregulates osteogenesis of BMSCs in AED patients with EDA/EDAR/EDARADD gene mutations. Further investigation in more AED patients is required, given the wide range of mutations involved in AED.

Keywords: Ectodermal dysplasia; Mesenchymal stem cell; Osteogenesis; Wnt/β-Catenin pathway.