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Published January 2010 | public
Journal Article

A rice-derived recombinant human lactoferrin stimulates fibroblast proliferation, migration, and sustains cell survival

Abstract

Human lactoferrin (hLF), a glycoprotein of the transferrin family, has recently been shown to stimulate wound repair through its antimicrobial effect and inflammation modulation. A recent study with several non-skin cell lines indicated that hLF may also have a stimulatory effect on cell proliferation. To explore the role of hLF in wound healing, we used recombinant human lactoferrin (holo-rhLF), derived from transgenic rice, to examine the effects of holo-rhLF on cell proliferation, migration, attachment, and survival in a human primary skin fibroblast culture system. This study revealed that holo-rhLF not only significantly stimulates fibroblast proliferation but also has synergistic effects with fibroblast growth factor-2 and antagonistic effects with transforming growth factor-β1 on cell proliferation. Furthermore, using a chamber migration assay, our results demonstrate that holo-rhLF promotes fibroblast migration in a dosage-dependent manner. More importantly, holo-rhLF significantly increased cell viability and protected cells from death when they were stressed by either serum depletion or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate exposure. No significant effect was observed on cell attachment. In conclusion, these findings reveal the multiple functions of holo-rhLF in human skin fibroblasts and indicate its potential application in wound therapy by enhancing cell proliferation and migration as well as protecting cells from apoptosis.

Additional Information

© 2010 Wound Healing Society. Manuscript received: March 5, 2009; accepted in final form: November 1, 2009. This work was supported partially by research grants from NIH SBIR R43 GM079025 (NH and JL) and the Dermatology Foundation of South Florida (JL). Ning Huang is an employee of Ventria Bioscience, whose product was studied in the present work. All other authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023