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A method to generate human mesenchymal stem cell-derived neurons which express and are excited by multiple neurotransmitters

Biological Procedures Online volume 10, pages 90–101 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The present study describes a protocol to generate heterogenous populations of neurotransmitter-producing neurons from human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). MSCs are bone marrow (BM)-derived cells which undergo lineage-specific differentiation to generate bone, fat, cartilage and muscle, but are also capable of transdifferentiating into defined ectodermal and endodermal tissues. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of MSCs as an alternative source of customized neurons for experimental neurobiology or other regenerative approaches. Our neuronal protocol utilizes freshly harvested human MSCs cultured on specific surfaces and exposed to an induction cocktail consisting of low serum concentration, retinoic acid (RA), growth factors and supplements. Here we report on the types of neurotransmitters produced by the neurons, and demonstrate that the cells are electrically responsive to exogenous neurotransmitter administration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMDNJ, USA

    Steven J. Greco

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ

    Chunyi Zhou & Jiang-Hong Ye

  3. Department of Medicine, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, MSB, Rm. E-579 185 South Orange Ave, 07103, Newark, NJ, USA

    Pranela Rameshwar

Authors
  1. Steven J. Greco
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  2. Chunyi Zhou
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  3. Jiang-Hong Ye
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  4. Pranela Rameshwar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pranela Rameshwar.

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Open Access This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Greco, S.J., Zhou, C., Ye, JH. et al. A method to generate human mesenchymal stem cell-derived neurons which express and are excited by multiple neurotransmitters . Biol. Proced. Online 10, 90–101 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1251/bpo147

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1251/bpo147

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Biological Procedures Online

ISSN: 1480-9222

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