Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL ORGANS
Volume 35, Issue 5, Pages 323-337Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.5301/ijao.5000085
Keywords
Mesenchymal stem cells; Electrophysiological properties; Synaptic function; Neuronal differentiation; Review
Categories
Funding
- Ministry of Science and Technology of China [2010DFR30850]
- National. Natural Science Foundation of China [81071009]
- People's Livelihood ST Project
- Dalian Bureau of ST [2010E11SF008]
- Scientific Research Foundation for Doctors
- Liaoning Province Bureau of ST [20091020]
- Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry
- Chinese Ministry of Education, the China Scholar's Council
- UK BBSRC
- BBSRC [BB/H008608/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/H008608/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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Introduction: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have gained considerable interest due to their potential use in cell therapies and tissue engineering. They have been reported to differentiate into various anchorage-dependent cell types, including bone, cartilage, and tendon. Our focus is on the differentiation of MSCs into neuron-like cells through the use of soluble chemical stimuli or specific growth factor supplements. The resulting cells appear to adopt neural phenotypes and express some typical neuronal markers, however, their electrophysiological properties and synaptic function remains unclear. Results: This mini-review illustrates how particular characteristics, electrophysiological properties, and synaptic functions of MSCs change during their neuronal differentiation. In particular we focus on changes in ion currents, ion channels, synaptic communication, and neurotransmitter release. We also highlight conflicting results, caused by inconsistencies in the experimental conditions used and in the methodologies adopted. Conclusions: We conclude that there is insufficient data and that further, carefully controlled investigations are required in order to ascertain whether MSC-derived neuron-like cells can exhibit the necessary neuronal functions to become clinically relevant for use in neural repairs.
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