Neurotrophic Effect of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells on Proliferation and Committed Differentiation of Ventral Mesencephalic Precursors

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To explore the potential neurotrophic effect of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) on cell proliferation and committed neuronal differentiation of ventral mesencephalic precursors (VMPs) in vitro.METHODS Ventral mesencephalic precursors from E11 inbred rat embryos and BMSCs from adult rats were cultured both separately and in co-culture. After a 7-day incubation in vitro, three conditioned culture media were obtained, termed VMP or common medium, BMSC medium, and BMSC+VMP medium. Ventral mesencephalic precursors cells were cultured in each of these media and the effects on proliferation and VMP differentiation were assessed. The relative yield of TH+ cells was calculated and compared by immunocytochemical staining.RESULTS After a 7-day culture and induction of VMPs, the total cell counts were increased by (44.13±4.75)-fold (common), (60.63±5.25)-fold (BMSC), and (64.00±7.63)-fold (BMSC+VMP). The proportions of TH+ cells were (18.76±5.20)%, (23.49±4.10)%, and (28.08±5.42)%, respectively, with statistically significant differences among the treatment groups.CONCLUSION BMSCs release factors that promote the proliferation of VMPs and facilitate the committed differentiation of VMPs into dopaminergic neurons.

Keywords

• mesencephalic precursor
• bone marrow stromal cell
• proliferation
• differentiation