Downregulation of DAB2IP Promotes Mesenchymal-To- Neuroepithelial Transition and Neuronal Differentiation of

The DOC-2/DAB2 interactive protein (DAB2IP) is a new member of the Ras GTPase–activating protein family. Recent studies have shown that, in addition to its tumor suppressive role in various tumors, DAB2IP also plays an important role in regulating neuronal migration and positioning during brain development. In this study, we determined the roles of DAB2IP in the neuronal differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). We found that lentiviral short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated knockdown of DAB2IP promoted the mesenchymal-to-neuroepithelial stem cell transition (MtNeST) and neuronal differentiation, which were accompanied by a reduction of cell proliferation but not apoptosis or cellular senescence. This suggests that DAB2IP plays an important role in th