title: In vitro differentiation of size-sieved stem cells into electrically active neural cells.
abstract: Size-sieved stem (SS) cells isolated from human bone marrow and propagated in vitro are a population of cells with consistent marker typing, and can form bone, fat, and cartilage. In this experiment, we demonstrated that SS cells could be induced to differentiate into neural cells under experimental cell culture conditions. Five hours after exposure to antioxidant agents (beta-mercaptoethanol +/- retinoic acid) in serum-free conditions, SS cells expressed the protein for nestin, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), neuron-specific nuclear protein (NeuN), and neuron-specific tubulin-1 (TuJ-1), and the mRNA for NSE and Tau. Immunofluorescence showed that almost all the cells (>98%) expressed NeuN and TuJ-1. After 5 days of beta-mercaptoethanol treatment, the SS cells expressed neurofilament high protein but not mitogen-activated protein-2, glial filament acidic protein, and galactocerebroside. For such long-term-treated cells, voltage-sensitive ionic current could be detected by electrophysiological recording, and the intracellular calcium ion, Ca(2+), concentration can be elevated by high potassium (K(+)) buffer and glutamate. These findings suggest that SS cells may be an alternative source of undifferentiated cells for cell therapy and gene therapy in neural dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. hungsc@vghtpe.gov.tw
authors.forename: Shih-Chieh
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Henrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Chien-Yuan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: May J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Lung-Sen
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Hsiao-Li
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D048429:Cell Size / Q000187:drug effects; D003470:Culture Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D008623:Mercaptoethanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D003470:Culture Media; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D014212:Tretinoin; D008623:Mercaptoethanol; D002118:Calcium