Gene expression profiling of lithium stimulated human mesenchymal stem cells

Wnt signaling in essential for osteoblast differentiation and is activated by lithium via inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase 3beta. Although lithium has been shown to enhance osteoblast differentiation in mice models and accelerate bone repair, its effect in humans is not clear. Therefore, we performed gene expression profiling of human MSCs from 3 donors treated with lithium (5mM) for 7 days. Microarray profiling of lithium-stimulated hMSC revealed decreased expression of adipogenic genes (CEBPA, CMKLR1, HSD11B1) and genes involved in lipid biosynthesis. Interestingly, osteoclastogenic factors and immune responsive genes (IL7, IL8, CXCL1, CXCL12, CCL20) were also downregulated. Negative transcriptional regulators of the osteogenic program (TWIST1 and PBX1) were suppressed while genes involved in mineralization like CLEC3B and ATF4 were induced. These results suggest suppression of adipogenic program and induction of osteogenic genes. Agilent one-color experiment, Organism: Human, Agilent-Custom Whole Genome Human 4x44k designed by Genotypic Technology Pvt. Ltd. (AMADID: 025085), Labeling kit: Agilent Quick-Amp labeling Kit (p/n5190-0442)