[Adipose tissue-derived stromal cells differentiate into neuron-like cells].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the possibility of inducing adipose tissue-derived stromal cells to differentiate into neuron-like cells, and to explore a new cell source for central nervous system transplantation.

METHODS

beta-mercaptoethanol was adopted to induce the cells to differentiate; undifferentiated cells and differentiated cells were identified with immunocytochemistry.

RESULTS

A population of adipose tissue-derived stromal cells were isolated from adult rat adipose tissue; they were processed to obtain a fibroblast-like population of cells and could be maintained in vitro for extended periods with stable population doubling, and they were expanded as undifferentiated cells in culture for more than 10 passages, indicating their proliferative capacity. beta-mercaptoethanol induced the stem cells to express nestin, characteristic of neuronal precursor stem cells at early stage of differentiation, and at late stage they exhibited a neuronal phenotype, expressing neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and neurofilament(NF); with an optimal differentiation protocol, almost 60%-85% of the cells expressed NSE and NF.

CONCLUSION

The data support the hypothesis that adult adipose tissue contains stem cells capable of differentiating into neurons.