Human mesenchymal stem cells express neural genes, suggesting a neural predisposition.
Because of their unique attributes of plasticity and accessibility, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may find use for therapy of neurodegenerative disorders. Our previous studies of adult human MSCs demonstrated that these cells express an extensive assortment of neural genes at a low but clearly detectable level. Here, we report expression of 12 neural genes, 8 genes related to the neuro-dopaminergic system, and 11 transcription factors with neural significance by human MSCs. Our results suggest that, as opposed to cells that do not express neural genes, human MSCs are predisposed to differentiate to neuronal and glial lineages, given the proper conditions. Our findings add a new dimension in which to view adult stem cell plasticity, and may explain the relative ease with which MSCs, transplanted into the central nervous system (CNS) differentiate to a variety of functional neural cell types. Our results further promote the possibility that adult human MSCs are promising candidates for cell-based therapy of neurodegenerative diseases.
Blondheim
Netta R
NR
Laboratory of Neurosciences, Felsenstein Medical Research Center and Department of Neurology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus Tel Aviv University, Sackler School of Medicine, Petah-Tikva 49100, Israel.
Levy
Yossef S
YS
Ben-Zur
Tali
T
Burshtein
Alex
A
Cherlow
Tirza
T
Kan
Inna
I
Barzilai
Ran
R
Bahat-Stromza
Merav
M
Barhum
Yael
Y
Bulvik
Shlomo
S
Melamed
Eldad
E
Offen
Daniel
D
D015087:2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D015703:Antigens, CD; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D015087:2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases