Differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into neurons induced by bone morphogenetic protein 7 in vitro

ABSTRACT

Objectives

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is caused by external direct or indirect factors with high disability rate, which may even endanger the life of patients. To explore the role of bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP-7) in the differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into neurons in vitro.

Methods

BMSCs were isolated and cultured by whole bone marrow adherence method. Adipogenic induction and osteogenic differentiation were used to test the multi⁃directional differentiation ability of BMSCs.

Results

After 28 days of adipogenic induction, BMSCs showed lipid droplets in the cytoplasm. After osteogenic induction, there were opaque lumps of mineral nodules in BMSCs. There were also orange-red or red mineral nodules in the extracellular matrix. The BMSCs in the 75 ng/ml BMP-7 group were morphologically similar to the neurons. After induction with BMP-7 for 2 h, the NF200 mRNA expression was higher, mRNA expression levels of SYN1, MAP2 and GFAP were higher. Positive rate of immunofluorescence staining in the BMP-7 group was notably increased. The positive rate of NSE immunofluorescence staining in the BMP-7 group was higher.

Conclusion

BMP-7 can induce rat BMSCs to differentiate into neurons in vitro.

KEYWORDS:

• Bone morphogenetic protein 7
• rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells
• neurons
• differentiation

Abbreviations

BMSCs bone marrow mesenchymal stem cellsSCI Spinal cord injuryBMP-7 Bone morphogenetic protein 7TGF-β β transforming growth factorDMSO dimethyl sulfoxideqRT-PCR Quantitative real time PCRNSE neuron-specific enolaseSD standard deviationANOVA analysis of variance.

Authors’ contributions

Kuanxin Li was dedicated to the integrity of the entire study; Heng Zhan focused on the study design; Lei Gao was involved in the literature research; Wen Zhang carried out the experimental studies. All authors have read and approved this article.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All experimental procedures are in accordance with the institutional ethical committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College.

Availability of data and material

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this. Further enquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81560216).This study was also supported by the Scientific Research Project of Anhui Higher Education Institution.（No.2022AH040219）

Notes on contributors

Heng Zhang

Heng Zhang Associate Professor, First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China

Lei Gao

Lei Gao Teaching Assistant, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Shihezi University, Urumqi, China

Wen Zhang

Wen Zhang Teaching Assistant, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Shihezi University, Urumqi, China

Kuanxin Li

Kuanxin Li Professor, First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China; The Second Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Shihezi University, Urumqi, China