In Vitro Effects of Wistar Rat Prenatal and Postnatal Cerebrospinal Fluid on Neural Differentiation and Proliferation of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Derived from Bone Marrow

Objective: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) plays an important role in cortical development during the fetal stages. Embryonic CSF (E-CSF) consists of numerous neurotrophic and growth factors that regulate neurogenesis, differentiation, and proliferation. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multi-potential stem cells that can differentiate into mesenchymal and non-mesenchymal cells, including neural cells. This study evaluates the prenatal and postnatal effects of CSF on proliferation and neural differentiation of bone marrow MSCs (BM-MSCs) at gestational ages E19, E20, and the first day after birth (P1). Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, we confirmed the mesenchymal nature of BM-MSCs according to their adherence properties and surface markers (CD44, CD73 and CD45). The multi-potential characteristics of BM-MSCs were verified by assessments of the osteogenic and adipogenic potentials of these cells. Under appropriate in vitro conditions, the BM-MSCs cultures were incubated with and without additional pre- and postnatal CSF. The MTT assay was used to quantify cellular proliferation and viability. Immunocytochemistry was used to study the expression of MAP-2 and beta-III tubulin in the BM-MSCs. We used ImageJ software to measure the length of the neurites in the cultured cells. Results: BM-MSCs differentiated into neuronal cell types when exposed to basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF). Viability and proliferation of the BM-MSCs conditioned with E19, E20, and P1 CSF increased compared to the control group. We observed significantly elevated neural differentiation of the BM-MSCS cultured in the CSF-supplemented medium from E19 compared to cultures conditioned with E20 and P1 CSF group. Conclusion: The results have confirmed that E19, E20, and P1 CSF could induce proliferation and differentiation of BM-MSCs though they are age dependent factors. The presented data support a significant, conductive role of CSF components in neuronal survival, proliferation, and differentiation.