Purpose: The present study was designed to investigate the effect of different doses of Staurosporine on DIFFERENTIATION of PC-12 cell line into differentiated NEURONAL cells. Materials and Methods: PC-12 cell line as a useful model system for neurobiological studies was maintained in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% FBS. Staurosporine were added to culture medium in different concentrations (110, 214, 316 and 1000nM), then morphology and apoptotic index were assessed by total neurite length estimation and TUNEL staining.Results: Data showed that total neurite length of PC-12 cells that were treated with 110, 214, 316 and 1000nM was 44±9.3, 153±15.0, 104±10.4 and 31±9.6μm respectively. Therefore PC-12 cells that were treated with 214nM Staurosporine had the greatest neurite length in compression with the other concentrations (P<0.05). In addition apoptotic index in these concentrations was 3±0.7,4±0.8,8±1.0 and 10±1.1 respectively, Therefore PC-12 cells that were treated with 110 and 214nM Staurosporine had minimal apoptotic index (P<0.05).Conclusion: Finally it can be concluded that 214nM concentration of Staurosporine is an optimum concentration for DIFFERENTIATION of NEURONAL cell lines to differentiated NEURONAL cells.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of oxytocin on neural DIFFERENTIATION of mouse adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs).Materials and Methods: ADSCs were isolated from inguinal adipose tissue of 8 to 10-week old mice. Thirdpassaged ADSCs were cultured in DMEM containing 15% Knockout Serum Replacement (KoSR) to induce neural DIFFERENTIATION.10-6, 10-7 or 10-8 M oxytocin was added to culture medium on the first or 8th day of DIFFERENTIATION. After two weeks of DIFFERENTIATION, the expression of neural-specific markers was evaluated by RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry. Moreover, the expression levels of Nestin, NSE, NeuN, NEFL and Synaptophysin mRNAs were compared between groups by quantitative real-time PCR.Results: ADSCs expressed oxytocin and oxytocin receptor mRNAs before and after DIFFERENTIATION. Two weeks after DIFFERENTIATION, control and oxytocin-treated ADSCs expressed PAX6, Nestin, NSE, NeuN, NEFL and PCNA mRNAs. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and GAD2 were also expressed in the differentiated ADSCs in all groups. ChAT was expressed at the presence of 10-7 M oxytocin. The expression of GFAP in the differentiated ADSCs was negative. As detected by quantitative realtime PCR, the optimal dose and the best time point for oxytocin treatment were 10-8 M and the eighth day of DIFFERENTIATION, respectively. In this condition, differentiated cells showed the highest expression levels of NSE and NEFL. The presence of Tuj1/b-tubulin III, MAP2 and NEFL proteins in the ADSC-derived neurons was confirmed by immunocytochemistry.Conclusion: These results demonstrated that oxytocin treatment can promote neural DIFFERENTIATION of the ADSCs, in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. Oxytocin has a role in neural development, and this may have significant implications in neural regeneration after injury.

Background: The rat pheochromocytoma cell line (PC12) differentiates and converts into neuron-like cells in in vitro condition under inductive factors. Researchers have shown that different growth factors, like neurotrophic growth factor (NGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), have different effects in proliferation, survival and DIFFERENTIATION of the cells. It was hypothesized that porous biodegradable polymer scaffolds support the formation of complex 3D tissues during DIFFERENTIATION of PC12 cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of nanofibrous scaffold PCL/gelatin on NEURONAL DIFFERENTIATION of PC12 cells.Materials and methods: In this basic study the PC12 cells were seeded on PCL/gelatin under identical media and growth factor supplementation conditions. Gene expression including Nestin and Map2 (Microtubule-associated protein 2) was analyzed using quantitative RT-PCR and immunostaining. Cellular morphology was analyzed with light microscopy; sphere ultra structure was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy.Results: PC12 cells could efficiently differentiate into neuron-like cells on 3D culture and PCL/gelatin scaffold had no adverse effect and toxicity on PC12 cells.Conclusion: Using tissue engineering provides a potential mechanism for creating viable human neural tissue structures for future therapeutic applications in neural pathologies such Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and Glaucoma.

Objective: The human endometrium is a dynamic tissue, which undergoes cycles of growth and regression with each menstrual cycle. Endometrial regeneration also follows parturition and extensive resection and occurs in postmenopausal women taking estrogen replacement therapy. It was demonstrated that human endometrium contains a low number of endometrial stem cells (EnSCs) which seem to belong to the family of the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Therefore, endometrium may be an alternative source of MSC-like cells for tissue engineering purposes, obtainable with no extra morbidity than that required for other sources of stem cells. The evidence that endometrial-derived stem cells were able to trans-differentiate into specialized cells of tissues different from endometrium, in particular into nervous cells, opened up the possibility of using endometrial-derived stem cells to substitute damaged neurons, that are normally not replaced but lost, in order to repair the Nervous System.Materials and Methods: The evidence that endometrial derived stem cells were able to trans-differentiate into specialized cells of tissues different from endometrium, in particular into nervous cells, opened up the possibility of using endometrial-derived stem cells to substitute damaged neurons, that are normally not replaced but lost, in order to repair the Nervous System.Results: Previous studies have shown EnSCs can respond to signalling molecules that are usually used as standards in neural DIFFERENTIATION and can programme cholinergic and dopaminergic NEURONAL cells. By inducing cholinergic neurons from EnSCs in a chemically defined medium, we could produce human neural cells without resorting to primary culture of neurons. This in vitro method provides an unlimited source of human neural cells and facilitates clinical applications of EnSCs for neurological diseases.Conclusion: In this review, we have examined the recent progress in this field, looking in particular at the applicability of human endometrial stem cells derived neurons usage to enhance nerve regeneration.

Aim: The aim of this study was to use carbon nanotube incorporated electrospun chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (CS/PVA/CNT) to induce neural DIFFERENTIATION of the stem cells for potential neural tissue engineering applications.Material and Methods: P19 embryonal carcinoma (EC) stem cells were cultured on the CS/PVA/CNT scaffold to induce NEURONAL DIFFERENTIATION. Cresyl violet staining was used to investigate NEURONAL phenotype and immunoflourescence technique was carried out to evaluate expression of b-tubulin, a neural specific marker.Results: Cresyl violet staining confirmed the NEURONAL morphology of the differentiated cells. These cells were immunoreactive to neuron specific marker, b-tubulin.Conclusion: the findings suggested the potential use of combined tissue engineering and stem cell therapy to improve deficits in neurodegenerative diseases.