Evaluation of motor neuron differentiation potential of human umbilical cord blood- derived mesenchymal stem cells, in vitro.
Many people suffer from spinal cord injuries annually. These deficits usually threaten the quality of life of patients. As a postpartum medically waste product, human Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) is a rich source of stem cells with self- renewal properties and neural differentiation capacity which made it useful in regenerative medicine. Since there is no report on potential of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells into motor neurons, we set out to evaluate the differentiation properties of these cells into motor neuron-like cells through administration of Retinoic Acid(RA), Sonic Hedgehog(Shh) and BDNF using a three- step in vitro procedure. The results were evaluated using Real-time PCR, Flowcytometry and Immunocytochemistry for two weeks. Our data showed that the cells changed into bipolar morphology and could express markers related to motor neuron; including Hb-9, Pax-6, Islet-1, NF-H, ChAT at the level of mRNA and protein. We could also quantitatively evaluate the expression of Islet-1, ChAT and NF-H at 7 and 14days post- induction using flowcytometry. It is concluded that human UCB-MSCs is potent to express motor neuron- related markers in the presence of RA, Shh and BDNF through a three- step protocol; thus it could be a suitable cell candidate for regeneration of motor neurons in spinal cord injuries.
Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Behnam
B
Yousefi
Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
Davood
D
Sanooghi
Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: Faghihi.f@iums.ac.ir.
Faezeh
F
Faghihi
Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: joghataei@iums.ac.ir.
Mohammad Taghi
MT
Joghataei
Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Nourahmad
N
Latifi
D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology
Human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells; Motor neuron; Spinal cord injury