Bone Morphogenetic Protein-4 Influences Neural Differentiation of Induced Mouse Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Abstract

Objective: Members of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, including bone morphogeneticprotein 4 (BMP4), have been implicated as regulators of neural differentiation.The aim of this study was to establish whether BMP4 could influence neuronal differentiationof mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).Materials and Methods: Therefore, neuronal differentiation of MSCs was induced by basicfibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) and treatment. Theexpression of neuronal specific markers such as Nestin, MAP2, β-Tubulin III and NKX6.1were detected by RT-PCR, flow cytometery and/or immunostaining.Results: While the percentage of Nestin positive cells was increased significantly duringtreatment, the addition of BMP4 during the first 4 days of treatment with bFGF and EGFreduced Nestin expression as showed by flow cytometry. This observation was furtherconfirmed by relative gene expression which showed the reduction in expression of neuralmarkers such as Nestin, MAP2 and NKX6.1 following treatment with BMP4.Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that BMP4 downregulates the neural fateof induced mouse MSCs.

Keywords

• BMP4
• Mesenchymal Stem Cells
• Neural Differentiation