The present study aimed to investigate the effects of human brain-derived neurotrophic factor (hBDNF) on the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into neuron-like cells. Lentiviral vectors carrying the hBDNF gene were used to modify the bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The rat BMSCs were isolated, cultured and identified. A lentivirus bearin...

Bone marrow stromal cells taken from EGFP transgenic mice were sorted by magnetic beads with surface markers for Sca-1 and Thy-1. The cells were then co-cultured on organotypic hippocampal slice or with neuronal cell feeder in dish. On hippocampus, both Sca-1 and Thy-1 positive cells showed 4- 8 folds higher potential to show neuron-like morphology than negative cells. In dish, negative cells f...

Interactions between neurons and glial cells in the brain may serve important functions in the development, maintenance, and plasticity of neural circuits. Fast neuron-glia synaptic transmission has been found between hippocampal neurons and NG2 cells, a distinct population of macroglia-like cells widely distributed in the brain. We report that these neuron-glia synapses undergo activity-depend...

Objective. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) potentially differentiate to various types of cells including neuron-like cells. The natural polyphenol resveratrol benefits patients with many diseases including ischemic brain injury. We hypothesize that resveratrol induces differentiation of hUC-MSCs into neuron-like cells. Methods. Flow cytometry was used to determine the sur...

BACKGROUND A recent research breakthrough has demonstrated that the ectopic expression of four genes is sufficient to reprogram human fibroblasts into inducible pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). However, whether human dental pulp cells (DPCs) could be reprogrammed into iPSCs remains an open question. In this study, we demonstrated that DPCs from deciduous and permanent teeth can be reprogrammed i...

Neuroendocrine cells are present in virtually all organs of the vertebrate body; however, it is yet uncertain whether they exist in the ovaries. Previous reports of ovarian neurons and neuron-like cells in mammals and birds might have resulted from misidentification. The aim of the present work was to determine the identity of neuron-like cells in immature ovaries of the domestic fowl. Cells im...