Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells differentiation into neuron-like cells with insulin-like growth factor-1 in vitro

Abstract

Objective To identify the biological characteristics of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs), and explore the conditions and effect of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) inducing hUCMSCs differentiation into neuron-like cells in vitro. Methods The hUCMSCs were isolated from umbilical cords of full-term caesarean section patients by enzyme digestion method and the surface antigens of hUCMSCs were detected by facial action coding system (FACS). The hUCMSCs were cultured with three different concentrations (25, 50, and 100 ng/ml) of IGF-1 induction medium. The morphological changes of cells were observed every two h, and the expression of neural cell markers including glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neuron specific enolase (NSE), and Nestin was detected by immunocytochemistry. Results The hUCMSCs expressed CD73, CD90 and CD105, and did not express CD34, CD45, CD19, CD11b, and human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR). After 8 h culture, the positive expression rate of GFAP, NSE and Nestin in hUCMSCs cultured with 50 ng/ml IGF-1 was (65.2±2.3)%, (18.2±1.6)% and (21.3±3.5)%, respectively. Conclusion IGF-1 can induce hUCMSCs to differentiate into neuron-like cells which express neural cell markers GFAP, NSE, and Nestin in vitro. Key words: Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells; Insulin-like growth factor-1; Differentiation; Neuron-like cells; Neural stem cells