Adult bone marrow stromal cells differentiate into neural cells in vitro

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) normally give rise to bone, cartilage, and mesenchymal cells. Recently, bone marrow cells have keen shown to have the capacity to differentiate into myocytes, hepatocytes, and glial cells. We now demonstrate that human and mouse BMSC can be induced to differentiate i nto neural cells under experimental cell culture conditions. BMSC cultured in the presence of EGF or BDNF expressed the protein and mRNA for nestin, a marker of neural precursors, These cultures also expressed glial fibrillar y acidic protein (GFAP) and neuron-specific nuclear protein (NeuN). When la beled human or mouse BMSC were cultured with rat fetal mesencephalic or str iatal cells, a small proportion of BMSC-derived cells differentiated into n euron-like cells expressing NeuN and glial cells expressing GFAP. (C) 2000 Academic Press.