Open Access

ARTICLE

Differentiation into neurons of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Ming Guan¹, Yaping Xu², Wei Wang³, Shan Lin²

1 Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, Hangzhou , Zhejiang 310000, P.R. China
2 Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou,Zhejiang 310000, P.R. China
3 Department of Pathology, Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, P.R. China

* Corresponding Author:

European Cytokine Network 2014, 25(3), 58-63. https://doi.org/10.1684/ecn.2014.0357

Abstract

Purpose:It has been reported that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into neurons as an effect of adding extraneous factors, such as β-mercaptoethanol, dimethyl sulfoxide and butylated hydroxyanisole. However, many of these compounds could harm MSCs and the human body, which restricts their application. We examined whether MSCs could differentiate into neuron-like cells under the influence of natural growth factors, such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1, and neurotrophin 3 (NT-3). Methods: MSCs were collected from rat bone marrow using the plastic adherent selection method, and induced in culture media to which was added different combinations of EGF, bFGF, IGF-1 and NT-3. The shape of the induced cells was observed daily and the differentiated cells were characterized by immunocytochemistry with neural-specific markers. Result: With bFGF and NT-3 in the medium, the induced cells became slim, gradually developing protruding processes, with parts of them forming net- or ring-like structures. Cells with processes showed expression of microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and nestin (NES), which was enhanced when bFGF and NT-3 were added in combination. However, with IGF-1 added to the medium, there was no evidence of neurite-like processes or any net- or ring-like structures; the MSCs retained their round or slim shape. Conclusion: Using natural cytokines in vitro, MSCs successfully differentiated into neuron-like cells. Our study confirms that bFGF and NT-3 exerts a neural-induction effect on the differentiation of MSCs, but that IGF has a rather negative effect on this process.

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