Transformation of human umbilical mesenchymal cells into neurons in vitro

Yu Show Fu, Yu Tsung Shih, Yun Chih Cheng, Ming Yuan Min

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

147 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Neuronal transplantation has provided a promising approach for treating neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, efforts have been directed at in vitro induction of various stem cells to transform into neurons. We report the first successful quantities in an in vitro attempt at directing the transformation into neurons of human umbilical mesenchymal cells, which are capable of rapid proliferation in vitro and are easily available. When cultured in neuronal conditioned medium, human umbilical mesenchymal cells started to express neuron-specific proteins such as NeuN and neurofilament (NF) on the 3rd day and exhibited retraction of the cell body, elaboration of processes, clustering of cells and expression of functional mRNA responsible for the synthesis of subunits of the kainate receptor and glutamate decarboxylase on the 6th day. Between the 9th and 12th days, the percentage of human umbilical mesenchymal cells expressing NF was as high as 87%, while functionality was demonstrated by glutamate invoking an inward current. At this stage, cells were differentiated into mature neurons in the postmitosis phase.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)652-660
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Biomedical Science
Volume11
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Astrocyte
  • Human umbilical mesenchymal cell
  • Microglia
  • Neuron
  • Neuronal differentiation
  • Stem cell

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Molecular Biology
  • Clinical Biochemistry
  • Cell Biology
  • Biochemistry, medical
  • Pharmacology (medical)

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