Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) are adult stem cells which can be induced into motor neuron-like cells (MNLC) with a preinduction-induction protocol. The purpose of this study is to generate MNLC from neural stem cells (NSC) derived from ADSC. The latter were isolated from the perinephric regions of Sprague-Dawley rats, transdifferentiated into neurospheres (NS) using B27, EGF, and bFGF. After generating NSC from the NS, they induced into MNLC by treating them with Shh and RA, then with GDNF, CNTF, BDNF, and NT-3. The ADSC lineage was evaluated by its mesodermal differentiation and was characterized by immunostaining with CD90, CD105, CD49d, CD106, CD31, CD45, and stemness genes (Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2). The NS and the NSC were evaluated by immunostaining with nestin, NF68, and Neurod1, while the MNLC were evaluated by ISLET1, Olig2, and HB9 genes. The efficiency of MNLC generation was more than 95 ± 1.4 % (mean ± SEM). The in vitro generated myotubes were innervated by the MNLC. The induced ADSC adopted multipolar motor neuron morphology, and they expressed ISLET1, Olig2, and HB9. We conclude that ADSC can be induced into motor neuron phenotype with high efficiency, associated with differential expression of the motor neuron gene. The release of MNLC synaptic vesicles was demonstrated by FM1-43, and they were immunostained with synaptophysin. This activity was correlated with the intracellular calcium ion shift and membrane depolarization upon stimulation as was demonstrated by the calcium indicator and the voltage-sensitive dye, respectively.

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) were reported to form floating aggregation of cells with expression of nestin, a marker for neural stem cells (NSCs). The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the morphology and the molecular markers expressed by NSCs derived from these neurospheres. The BMSCs were isolated from Sprague Dawley rats and evaluated for osteogenesis, lipogenesis, and expression of fibronectin, CD90, CD106, CD31, and Oct4. The BMSCs were cultured with Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM)/F12 containing 15% fetal bovine serum, then with DMEM/F12 containing 2% B27, basic fibroblast growth factor, and epidermal growth factor. The cell aggregates or spheres were stained with acridine orange, which showed that the neurospheres comprised aggregated cells at either premitotic/postsynthetic (PS), postmitotic/presynthetic (PM) phases of cell cycle, or a mixture of both. The NSCs harvested from the neurospheres were polar with eccentric nucleus, and at either a PS or a PM cell cycle phases, some cells at the latter phase tended to form rosette-like structures. The cells were immunostained for molecular markers such as nestin, neurofilament 68 (NF68), NF160, and NF200 and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Myelin basic protein (MBP), the pluripotency (Oct4, Nanog, and SOX2), and the differentiation genes (NeuroD1, Tubb4, and Musashi I) were also evaluated using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Nestin, NF68, NF160, NF200, GFAP, O4, and N-cadherin were expressed in the NSCs. The percentage of immunoreactive cells to nestin was significantly higher than that of the other neuronal markers. MBP was not expressed in BMSCs, neurospheres, and NSCs. The neurospheres were immunoreactive to GFAP. RT-PCR showed the expression of NeuroD1 and Musashi I. The pluripotency gene (SOX2) was expressed in NSCs. Oct4 and Nanog were expressed in BMSCs, while Oct4 and SOX2 were expressed in the neurosphere. This indicates that a pluripotency regularity network existed during the transdifferentiation of BMSCs into NSCs. Image processing of the neurospheres showed that the cells tended to form radial patterns. The conclusion of this study is that the NSCs generated from the BMSC-derived neurospheres have the morphology and the characteristics of neuroepithelial cells with tendency to forming rosette-like structures.

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Many studies have illustrated that much of the post-traumatic degeneration of the spinal cord cells is caused by the secondary mechanism. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the anti-inflammatory property of valproic acid (VPA) on injured spinal cords (SC). The rats with the contused SC received intraperitoneal single injection of VPA (150, 200, 300, 400 or 500 mg/kg) at 2, 6, 12 and 24 h post-injury. Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) test and H-reflex evaluated the functional outcome for 12 weeks. The SC were investigated 3 months post-injury using morphometry and glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) expression. Reduction in cavitation, H/M ratio, BBB scores and GFAP expression in the treatment groups were significantly more than that of the untreated one (P < 0.05). The optimal improvement in the condition of the contused rats was in the ones treated at the acute phase of injury with 300 mg/kg of VPA at 12 h post-injury, they had the highest increase in BBB score and decrease in astrogliosis and axonal loss. We conclude that treating the contused rats with 300 mg/kg of VPA at 12 h post-injury improves the functional outcome and reduces the traumatized SC gliosis.

Creatine was reported to induce bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) into GABAergic neuron-like cells (GNLC). In a previous study, creatine was used as a single inducer for BMSC into GNLC with low yield. In this study, BMSC-derived neurospheres (NS) have been used in generating GABAergic phenotype. The BMSC were isolated from adult rats and used in generating neurospheres and used for producing neural stem cells (NSC). A combination of all-trans-retinoic acid (RA), the ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), and creatine was used in order to improve the yield of GNLC. We also used other protocols for the transdifferentiation including RA alone; RA and creatine; RA and CNTF; and RA, CNTF, and creatine. The BMSC, NSC, and GNLC were characterized by specific markers. The activity of the GNLC was evaluated using FM1-43. The isolated BMSC expressed Oct4, fibronectin, and CD44. The NS were immunoreactive to nestin and SOX2, the NSC were immunoreactive to nestin, NF68 and NF160, while the GNLC were immunoreactive to GAD1/2, VGAT, GABA, and synaptophysin. Oct4 and c-MYC, pluripotency genes, were expressed in the BMSC, while SOX2 and c-MYC were expressed in the NSC. The activity of GNLC indicates that the synaptic vesicles were released upon stimulation. The conclusion is that the combination of RA, CNTF, and creatine induced differentiation of neurosphere-derived NSC into GNLC within 1 week. This protocol gives higher yield than the other protocols used in this study. The mechanism of induction was clearly associated with several differential pluripotent genes.