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Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Culturing and Manipulation of O9-1 Neural Crest Cells
Published on: October 9, 2018
MicroRNA-29a promotes smooth muscle cell differentiation from stem cells by targeting YY1
Min Jin1, Yutao Wu2, Yanwei Wang3
1Division of Reproductive Medicine & Infertility, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 88#, Jiefang Rd., Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310009, PR China.
Abstract:
MicroRNA-29a (miR-29a) has been extensively studied in tumor biology and fibrotic diseases, but little is known about its functional roles in vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) differentiation from embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Using well-established VSMC differentiation models, we have observed that miR-29a induces VSMC differentiation from mouse ESCs by negatively regulating YY1, a transcription factor that inhibits muscle cell differentiation and muscle-specific gene expression. Moreover, gene expression levels of three VSMC specific transcriptional factors were up-regulated by miR-29a over-expression, but down-regulated by miR-29a inhibition or YY1 over-expression. Taken together, our data demonstrate that miR-29a and its target gene, YY1, play a regulatory role in VSMC differentiation from ESCs in vitro and in vivo.
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