Neural cell differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells isolated from human umbilical cord blood : in vitro

Abstract EN

Human umbilical cord blood derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are regarded as valuable source for cell transplantation and cell therapy.

These cells in their undifferentiated state are fibroblast–like in morphology, and these cells when treated with retinoic acid, or epidermal growth factor, rapidly assumed the morphology of multipolar neurons.

The resulting differentiated cells express nestin marker, a neurofilament protein that is one of the most specific markers of multipotent neural stem cells.

In conclusion, the present findings support the hypothesis that cord blood contains MSCs that can be induced to differentiate into neuronal pathway and express neuronal marker.