Skeletal muscle-derived progenitor cells exhibit neural competence

Skeletal muscle contains heterogenous progenitor cells that give rise to muscle, hematopoietic cells and bone. The exact phenotypic definition of skeletal muscle progenitor cells has not been fully elucidated nor the potential of these cells to differentiate into neurons. Here, we demonstrate that phenotypically homogenous skeletal muscle progenitor cells defined as Lin(-)CD45(-)CD117(-)CD90(+) cells express neural stem cell markers and are responsive to neural induction signals. When exposed to neural induction medium containing basic fibroblast growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, skeletal muscle progenitor cells dramatically changed their cell morphology, became post-mitotic and began expressing neuronal markers. These results reveal unexpected potentials of muscle progenitor cells and suggest that these cells may potentially be used in cell-based therapies to replace damaged neurons.