Author(s)

Judith Zavala-Arcos, Maria Teresa Gonzalez-Garza, Janet Gutierrez-Alcala, Hector R. Martinez, Jorge E. Moreno-Cuevas

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Servicio de Terapia Celular, School of Medine and Health, CITES, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, México.

The use of stem cells has been proposed as an alternative treatment for certain neurodegenerative disorders. It has also been suggested that in the pre-differentiated state, stem cells might provide a better therapeutic option than cells that are undifferentiated or fully differentiated. The purpose of this study was to develop a protocol aimed at reducing the incubation time required to induce the conversion of rat mesenchymal stem cells into immature dopaminergic neurons. Stem cells obtained from rat bone marrow were incubated in a control or induction media for 2-24 h. Cells incubated for 24 h in induction medium demonstrated an increase on the levels of the neuronal protein markers nestin, glial fibrillary acid protein, and β-tubulin III, as well as increases in the expression of Pax3, EN1, Thy1.1, and GEF10 genes. This manuscript presents evidence that adult mesenchymal cells are capable to respond, in a short time period, to a neuroinduction medium, and give raise to pre-differentiated neuron like cells representing an alternative for Parkinson disease cell therapy transplantation.

Cell Differentiation; Dopamine Producing Cells; Neuro-Differentiation; Parkinson’s Disease; Stem Cells

Zavala-Arcos, J. , Gonzalez-Garza, M. , Gutierrez-Alcala, J. , Martinez, H. and Moreno-Cuevas, J. (2013) Direct pre-differentiation of rat mesenchymal stem cells into dopaminergic cells. Stem Cell Discovery, 3, 133-138. doi: 10.4236/scd.2013.32018.