Differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into neurons induced by bone morphogenetic protein 7 in vitro

Objectives: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is caused by external direct or indirect factors with high disability rate, which may even endanger the life of patients. To explore the role of bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP-7) in the differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into neurons in vitro. Methods: BMSCs were isolated and cultured by whole bone marrow adherence method. Adipogenic induction and osteogenic differentiation were used to test the multi-directional differentiation ability of BMSCs. Results: After 28 days of adipogenic induction, BMSCs showed lipid droplets in the cytoplasm. After osteogenic induction, there were opaque lumps of mineral nodules in BMSC5. There were also orange-red or red mineral nodules in the extracellular matrix. The BMSCs in the 75 ng/ml BMP-7 group were morphologically similar to the neurons. After induction with BMP-7 for 2 h, the NF200 mRNA expression was higher, mRNA expression levels of SYN1, MAP2 and GFAP were higher. Positive rate of immunofluorescence staining in the BMP-7 group was notably increased. The positive rate of NSE immunofluorescence staining in the BMP-7 group was higher. Conclusion: BMP-7 can induce rat BMSC5 to differentiate into neurons in vitro.