Published online Jun 26, 2021. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v13.i6.659
Peer-review started: February 12, 2021
First decision: March 17, 2021
Revised: March 27, 2021
Accepted: May 27, 2021
Article in press: May 27, 2021
Published online: June 26, 2021
The heat shock protein 20 (HSP20) protects cells from cellular damage and dysfunctional enzyme attacks. Therefore, we used an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) model to study the proliferative effects of HSP20, and investigated the effects of HSP20 on cell growth, stemness, pluripotency, and cellular activity.
HSPs make healthy cells stronger by protecting them against stress and injuries, making individuals more resistant to diseases. HSP20 constitutes the first line of protection for cells exposed to stressful/damaged conditions, thereby making it an ideal protein for clinical significance in different diseases.
This study highlighted the more recent findings illustrating the proliferative effects of HSP20 and its potential as a therapeutic agent, with the aim of determining the importance of HSP20 overexpression in iPSCs compared to their control.
We used iPSCs, which retain their potential for cell proliferation. HSP20 overexpression effectively enhanced the proliferation of cells. Overexpression of HSP20 in iPSCs was characterized by immunocytochemistry staining and real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. We further used cell culture, cell counting, western blotting, and flow cytometry analysis for the validation of HSP20 overexpression and its mechanism.
Our present findings revealed the role of HSP20 in promoting cell proliferation. Our results also showed that the action of HSP20 is dependent on sirtuin 1 (SIRT1).
HSP20 overexpression resulted in significantly better proliferation. These findings provide adequate evidence for mechanistic study of HSP20 role in SIRT1-dependent cell proliferation in iPSCs.
Resolving the detailed cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying cell proliferation is crucial. In this study, we demonstrated the role of iPSCs overexpressing HSP20 in proliferation and stemness to better understand the underlying molecular mechanisms.