title: Coaxing bone marrow stromal mesenchymal stem cells towards neuronal differentiation: progress and uncertainties.
abstract: Multipotent adult stem cells capable of developing into particular neuronal cell types have great potential for autologous cell replacement therapy for central nervous system neurodegenerative disorders and traumatic injury. Bone marrow-derived stromal mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) appear to be attractive starting materials. One question is whether BMSCs could be coaxed to differentiate in vitro along neuronal or glial lineages that would aid their functional integration post-transplantation, while reducing the risk of malignant transformation. Recent works suggest that BMSCs could indeed be differentiated in vitro to exhibit some cellular and physiological characteristics of neural cell lineages, but it is not likely to be achievable with simple chemical treatments. We discussed recent findings pertaining to efforts in neuronal differentiation of BMSCs in vitro, and results obtained when these were transplanted in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: F Y H
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002478:Cells, Cultured / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000637:transplantation; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D003470:Culture Media; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000502:physiology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000601:surgery; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D019076:Transgenes; D000099176:Noggin Protein
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D003470:Culture Media; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D000099176:Noggin Protein