title: GDNF and NT-3 induce progenitor bone mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into neurons in fetal gut culture medium.
abstract: With the increasing use of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in cell therapies, factors regulating BMSC differentiation have become the interest of current research. In this study, we investigated the effects of glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) on the course of BMSC differentiation. BMSCs were isolated from rat bone marrow and transfected with GDNF and NT-3 genes. Compared to mock-transfected BMSCs, GDNF and NT-3 induced BMSC differentiation to reveal neuron-like characteristics, i.e., the positive expression of neuronal marker MAP-2 and astrocyte marker GFAP, as detected by immunofluorescence assays. Semi-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blot analyses showed that the increase of expression of GDNF and NT-3 in BMSCs also simultaneously elevated the mRNA expression of NSE, nestin, and MAP-2. Furthermore, the cell patch-clamp test demonstrated that the overexpression of GDNF and NT-3 in BMSCs enhanced voltage-activated potassium currents, implying that BMSCs possess great potential as a cell-based therapeutic candidate to treat neurological diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Hankou, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Tianqi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Donghai
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Jiexiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: Heyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Xueqin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Mingfa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000166:cytology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002469:Cell Separation; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003470:Culture Media / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005333:Fetus / Q000166:cytology; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000166:cytology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D020933:Neurotrophin 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D010641:Phenotype; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D020933:Neurotrophin 3; D015221:Potassium Channels