Erk1/2 signalling is involved in the differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells to Schwann cells in dog.

Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) show a multi-differentiation potential, however, the mechanism of its neural differentiation is still unclear. We aim to explore the potential role of Erk1/2 signalling pathway in the differentiation of PDLSCs to Schwann cells (SCs). When PDLSCs were induced to differentiate to SCs, the cells were treated with U0126, an Erk1/2 pathway specific inhibitor, and its potential effect on SC differentiation was appraised using Western-blotting, immunostaining, and reverse transcriptase PCR. Specifically inhibiting the Erk1/2 signalling pathway reduced the expression of SC-specific marker genes, S100, GFAP, and P75 and SC differentiation regulators, krox-20, Oct-6, and P0 in the cells undergoing induced differentiation from PDLSCs. From these results, we conclude that the Erk1/2 signalling pathway is involved in the induced differentiation of PDLSCs to SCs.