Human dental pulp-derived stem cells (hDPSCs) have been considered alternative sources of adult stem cells because of their potential to differentiate into osteoblasts, chondroblasts and adipocytes. The osteoblast is a mononucleate cell that is respon...
Human dental pulp-derived stem cells (hDPSCs) have been considered alternative sources of adult stem cells because of their potential to differentiate into osteoblasts, chondroblasts and adipocytes. The osteoblast is a mononucleate cell that is responsible for bone formation. Gangliosides are key lipid molecules that are required for the regulation of cellular processes such as proliferation and differentiation. The role of gangliosides that play in osteoblastogenesis is not yet clearly understood. Therefore, in this study, we demonstrated the clearly role of gangliosides in the osteoblast differentiation of hDPSCs by shRNA. The results of high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HP-TLC) showed that ganglioside GD1a expression was increased during the differentiation of hMSCs into osteoblasts. We showed a localization of ganglioside GD1a with ALP by immunofluorescence staining. Biosynthesis of ganglioside GD1a synthesize with the formation of sialic acid from GM1a by ST2 beta-galactoside alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase 2 (ST3Gal2). We used lentivirus-mediated shRNA expression for knockdown of ST3Gal2 gene expression. Down-regulation of ganglioside GD1a was decreased GD1a expression and ALP activity. Furthermore, these data indicate that the knockdown of ST3Gal2 by shRNA is inhibition of ERK1/2-phosphorylation. Taken together, these results suggest that ganglioside GD1a may play a role in the osteoblast differentiation process of hDPSCs.