title: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can differentiate into type II alveolar epithelial cells in vitro.
abstract: In this study, we demonstrate that BMSCs (bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells) can be successfully differentiated into type II alveolar epithelial cells in vitro under mimic pulmonary microenvironment. BMSCs were co-cultured with MRC-5 cells in modified SAGM (small airway growth medium). The BMSC-derived type II alveolar epithelial cells morphologically resemble human lung epithelial cells. They began to appear after 10 days in co-culture and became morphologically dominant after day 15. Correspondingly, SPC (surfactant protein C), a specific functional marker of human type II alveolar epithelial cells, was detected in differentiated cells by RT-PCR (reverse transcription-PCR) analysis after day 15. Immunostaining analysis revealed the present of scattered SPC-positive cells with a differentiation efficiency of 2.43-4.21%. Our study further showed that the SPC gene expression level in differentiated cells was related to the ratio of BMSCs to MRC-5 cells and the components of modified SAGM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Xinhua Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Peoples Republic of China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gai
authors.forename: Ju
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: Fang-Bao
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Chun-Rong
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D056809:Alveolar Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D037721:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein C / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D037721:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein C; C489679:SFTPC protein, human