Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising tool in regenerative medicine because of their ability to self-renew and differentiate into a variety of specialized cells including adipocytes, osteocytes, chondrocytes and myocytes. These multipotent stem cells can be easily isolated from various tissues including bone marrow, adipose tissue, umbilical cord and dental pulp. Under appropriate culture conditions, MSCs are able to transdifferentiate into neuron-like cells which opens up the possibility of using MSCs to replace damaged neurons in neural degenerative disorders or traumatic brain injuries. Differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into cells of neuronal lineage is accompanied by striking changes in cell morphology with the formation of neural dendrites and axons. The neuronal induction process can be monitored by observing these morphological changes. The cresyl violet histochemical staining technique, which stains neuronal Nissl bodies, can also be used for the detection of neuronal cells. These characteristic granular structures are composed of RNA-rich rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER) and are unique to the somata of neurons. PromoCell® Mesenchymal Stem Cell Neurogenic Differentiation Media (C-28015) was developed for the directed differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from bone marrow, the umbilical cord matrix (Wharton´s Jelly) and adipose tissue into neurogenic lineages.
Figure 1. Neural differentiation of human MSCs. Neuron-like cells generated from human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells in PromoCell’s MSC Neurogenic Differentiation Medium (C-28015). Note the formation of axon- and dendrite-like cellular structures.
Figure 2. Nissl body staining of hMSC-BM derived neuron-like cells.Cells were cultured for 3 days in PromoCell MSC Growth Medium 2 for the negative control (top panel) or MSC Neurogenic Differentiation Medium for the differentiation sample (bottom panel). In contrast to the negative control, the neuronal cells differentiated from MSC show extensive somata-associated accumulations of Nissl bodies stained dark black-violet (white arrows).
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