Advance in Mechanism of Differentiation of Dopaminergic Neurons from Neural Stem Cells(review) / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in central nervous system caused by the loss of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. At present, dopaminergic neurons differentiated both in vivo and in vitro from neural stem cells act as an important cell source for the cell-replacement therapy of Parkinson's disease. This paper reviewed the major molecular mechanism, signaling pathway and important environment factors involved in differentiation of dopaminergic neurons from neural stem cells, based on the research findings in recent 10 years.

NELL2 gene as regulator of cell cycle in neuron differentiation / 소아과

PURPOSE: Because NELL2 expression is strictly restricted only in neurons in developing and post- differentiated neural tissues, it is thought to be involved in the neuronal differentiation during development and in the maintenance of neuronal physiology in the post-differentiated neurons. In this study, we examined whether NELL2 is involved in the regulation of cell cycle and apoptosis in the hippocampal neuroprogenitor HiB5 cells. METHODS: Effects of NELL2 on the cultured HiB5 cell numbers, DNA fragmentation, and proteins involved in the regulation of the cell cycle were measured. RESULTS: NELL2 induced a decrease in cell numbers and an increase in G1 phase arrest. Moreover, transfection of NELL2 resulted in an increase of DNA fragmentation that shows an evidence of apoptosis. Contents of proteins involved in the regulation of cell cycle were also changed by transfection of NELL2 expression vectors. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that NELL2 plays an important role in the regulation of cell cycle and apoptosis of neurons.

Synapse function of neuron-like cells induced from mesenchymal stem cells by Salvia miltiorrhiza / 第三军医大学学报

Objective To explore whether the neurons induced from mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) have synapse function or not.Methods Passage 4-5 MSCs in good shape was induced by Salvia miltiorrhiza with optimized protocol for several times,and then the observation under inverted phase contrast microscope,immunofluorocytochemistry and the measurement of neurophysiological function were carried out.Ca2+ influx and synapse function were detected with laser-scanning confocal microscopy(LSCM),taking 50 mmol/L KCl as stimuli to evoke action potential.Results The cells that had been induced for 5 h at 4th time from MSCs,looked like neurons and displayed that the processes stretched out to form complex net.Immunofluorocytochemistry presented that the rate of TUJ-1 expression was(96.7?2.8)% and that of synaptophysin was(96.2?2.1)%.When the neuron-like cells were stimulated by high concentration of KCl,intracellular Ca2+ influx enhanced quickly.When the neuron-like cells were stimulated by high KCl solution for the first time,SynaptoRed-C2 anchored onto the membrane,and after the second excitation,the fluorescence intensity decreased quickly.Conclusion The neuron-like cells derived from MSCs that are induced by salvia miltiorrhiza with optimized protocol have synapse function.