Research Article Upregulation of Pluripotency Markers in Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cells by miR-302 and Leukemia Inhibitory Factor

License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The expression pattern of pluripotency markers in adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs) is a subject of controversy. Moreover, there is no data about the signaling molecules that regulate these markers in ADSCs. In the present study, we studied the roles of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) andmiR-302 in this regard. Freshly isolatedmouseADSCs expressed hematopoietic,mesenchymal, and pluripotencymarkers. One day after plating, ADSCs expressedOCT4 and Sox2 proteins. After three passages, the expression of hematopoietic andpluripotencymarkers decreased,while the expression ofmesenchymal stemcellmarkers exhibited a striking rise. Both supplementation of culture media with LIF and transfection of the ADSCs with miR-302 family upregulated the expression levels of OCT4, Nanog, and Sox2 mRNAs. These findings showed that mouse adipose tissue contains a population of cells with molecular resemblance to embryonic stem cells, and LIF and miR-302 family positively affect the expression of pluripotency markers. 1