title: Comparative capability of menstrual blood versus bone marrow derived stem cells in neural differentiation.
abstract: In order to characterize the potency of menstrual blood stem cells (MenSCs) for future cell therapy of neurological disorders instead of bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) as a well-known and conventional source of adult stem cells, we examined the in vitro differentiation potential of these stem cells into neural-like cells. The differentiation potential of MenSCs to neural cells in comparison with BMSCs was assessed under two step neural differentiation including conversion to neurosphere-like cells and final differentiation. The expression levels of Nestin, Microtubule-associated protein 2, gamma-aminobutyric acid type B receptor subunit 1 and 2, and Tubulin, beta 3 class III mRNA and/or protein were up-regulated during development of MenSCs into neurosphere-like cells (NSCs) and neural-like cells. The up-regulation level of these markers in differentiated neural-like cells from MenSCs was comparable with differentiated cells from BMSCs. Moreover, both differentiated MenSCs and BMSCs expressed high levels of potassium, calcium and sodium channel genes developing functional channels with electrophysiological recording. For the first time, we demonstrated that MenSCs are a unique cell population with differentiation ability into neural-like cells comparable to BMSCs. In addition, we have introduced an approach to generate NSCs from MenSCs and BMSCs and their further differentiation into neural-like cells in vitro. Our results hold a promise to future stem cell therapy of neurological disorders using NSCs derived from menstrual blood, an accessible source in every woman.
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Biotechnology Research Centre, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, P.O. Box: 1177-19615, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of advanced technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fereshteh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Azedi
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Biotechnology Research Centre, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, P.O. Box: 1177-19615, Tehran, Iran. s.kazemnejad@avicenna.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Somaieh
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9776-7686
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kazemnejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir Hassan
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Zarnani
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medical Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soleimani
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shojaei
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Biotechnology Research Centre, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, P.O. Box: 1177-19615, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shaghayegh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arasteh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping / Q000379:methods; D008598:Menstruation; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bone marrow; Differentiation; Menstrual blood; Mesenchymal stem cell; Neuron