Immunolocalization of Substance P and NK-1 Receptor in ADIPOSE Stem Cells

Substance P (SP) is a neuropeptide belonging to the thachykinin peptide family. SP, after binding to its receptor, the neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R), controls several transcription factors such as NF-κB, hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1α), c-myc, c-fos, c-jun, and AP-1. SP and NK1R have a widespread distribution in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. They are also present in cells not belonging to the nervous system (immune cells, placenta, etc.). SP is located in all body fluids, that is, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, etc., making it ubiquitous throughout the human body. SP and NK1R genes are expressed in the stem cell line TF-1 and in primary stem cells derived from human placental cord blood. However, to our knowledge, the presence of SP and the NK1R receptor in adipose stem cells (ADSC) is unknown. We demonstrated by immunofluorescence the localization of SP and NK1R in human and rat ADSC. SP and NK1R are located in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus of these cells. The NK1R is higher in the nucleus than in the cytoplasm of ADSCs. By Western blot we demonstrated the presence of different isoforms of NK1R that have different subcellular locations in the ADSC. SP induces proliferation and mitogenesis through NK1R in ADSCs. These findings reported here for the first time suggest an important role for a SP/NK1R system, either as genetic and/or epigenetic factor, in both the cytoplasm and nucleus functions of the ADSCs. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 4686-4696, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.