Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Molecular Analysis of Endothelial-mesenchymal Transition Induced by Transforming Growth Factor-β Signaling
Published on: August 3, 2018
Type III Transforming Growth Factor-β Receptor RNA Interference Enhances Transforming Growth Factor β3-Induced
Shuhui Zheng1, Hang Zhou2, Zhuohui Chen3
1Research Center for Translational Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Abstract:
The type III transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) receptor (TβRIII), a coreceptor of the TGF-β superfamily, is known to bind TGF-βs and regulate TGF-β signaling. However, the regulatory roles of TβRIII in TGF-β-induced mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) chondrogenesis have not been explored. The present study examined the effect of TβRIII RNA interference (RNAi) on TGF-β3-induced human MSC (hMSC) chondrogenesis and possible signal mechanisms. A lentiviral expression vector containing TβRIII small interfering RNA (siRNA) (SiTβRIII) or a control siRNA (SiNC) gene was constructed and infected into hMSCs. The cells were cultured in chondrogenic medium containing TGF-β3 or control medium. TβRIII RNAi significantly enhanced TGF-β3-induced chondrogenic differentiation of hMSCs, the ratio of type II (TβRII) to type I (TβRI) TGF-β receptors, and phosphorylation levels of Smad2/3 as compared with cells infected with SiNC. An inhibitor of the TGF-β signal, SB431542, not only inhibited TβRIII RNAi-stimulated TGF-β3-mediated Smad2/3 phosphorylation but also inhibited the effects of TβRIII RNAi on TGF-β3-induced chondrogenic differentiation. These results demonstrate that TβRIII RNAi enhances TGF-β3-induced chondrogenic differentiation in hMSCs by activating TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling. The finding points to the possibility of modifying MSCs by TβRIII knockdown as a potent future strategy for cell-based cartilage tissue engineering.
Related Concept Videos
Role of Hematopoietic Growth Factors
Thrombopoietin (TPO), mainly released by the liver,...
Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: pH
Bacterial Transformation
Griffith made an unexpected discovery when he killed the pathogenic strain and mixed its remains with the live, non-pathogenic strain. Not only did the mixture kill host mice, but it also contained living pathogenic bacteria that...
Transcription Factors
Types Of Transformers
If the ratio of the number of turns in the secondary winding to that of the primary winding is greater than one, then the transformer is said to be a step-up transformer. In a step-up transformer, the voltage at the secondary winding is greater than the voltage applied at the primary winding.
However, if this ratio is less than one, the transformer is said to be a step-down...
Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: Temperature

