Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells derived from Wharton's jelly differentiate into cholinergic-like neurons in vitro

In Alzheimer's disease patients, dysfunction of the cholinergic neurons is one of the causes of cognitive disorders. Although there is still no effective cure for theses diseases and conditions, some promising strategies are currently available to replace these damaged cells. Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) derived from umbilical cord appeared as a promising cell source for cell replacement therapy. However, the capacity of WJ-MSCs to differentiate into cholinergic-like neurons remains undetermined. In this study, we examined whether WJ-MSCs could differentiate into cholinergic-like neurons in vitro. After induction, the spindle-shaped or fibroblast-like WJ-MSCs changed into bulbous cells. The induced cells positively expressed cholinergic neuron's markers, and an acetylcholine secretion of the induced WJ-MSCs was significantly elevated. These results demonstrated that WJ-MSCs had capability to differentiate into cholinergic-like neurons. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.