关键词: 羊膜, 上皮细胞, 细胞分化

Abstract: Objective Whether amniotic epithelial cells could promote the survival and differentiation of neural stem cells was explored in vitro. Methods Neural stem cells were dissociated and cloned from the cortical tissue of E12-14 d rats. Amniotic epithelial cells were also dissociated and purified simultaneously from the amnion. The neural stem cells and amniotic epithelial cells were co-cultured. The expression of marker of neural stem cells and differentiated cells (neuron and glial cell) in the neural stem cells and amniotic epithelial cells were detected by immunohistochemistry method. The morphological changes of neural stem cells were examined with light microscope. Results Compared with control group,the total differentiated cells and percentage of MAP-2 positive cells was significantly increased in co-cultured groups. The primary neurite of neuron-like cells in co-cultured groups were obviously larger than that in control group. Conclusion Amniotic epithelial cells can provide a supportive environment for the survival and neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells and suggest that their addition may be useful as a sustained source of trophic support to improve outcome of neural stem cells transplantation.

Key words: amnion, epithelial cells, cell differentiation