PMID- 28565804 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE LR - 20200929 IS - 1792-0981 (Print) IS - 1792-1015 (Electronic) IS - 1792-0981 (Linking) VI - 13 IP - 5 DP - 2017 May TI - Schwann cells promote the capability of neural stem cells to differentiate into neurons and secret neurotrophic factors. PG - 2029-2035 LID - 10.3892/etm.2017.4183 [doi] AB - The present study investigated whether co-culturing Schwann cells (SCs) with neural stem cells (NSCs) improves viability, direction of differentiation and secretion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in NSCs. The three groups assessed were as follows: SCs, NSCs, and a co-culture of SCs and NSCs. Cellular morphological changes were observed under an inverted phase contrast microscope and quantified. Cells were identified by immunofluorescence staining: S100 for SCs, Nestin for NSCs, microtubule associated protein (Map) 2 and NeuN for neurons and glial fibrillary acidic protein for astrocytes. Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay. Secretion of BDNF and GDNF was quantified; mRNA expression was quantified by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The majority of NSCs in the co-cultured group differentiated into neurons. The cell survival rate of the co-culture group was significantly higher than the other groups on days 3, 5 and 10 (P<0.01). The secretion of BDNF in the co-culture group was significantly higher than NSCs on days 3, 5 and 7 (P<0.05), while the amount of GDNF in co-culture was significantly higher than both NSCs and SCs on day 1 (P<0.05). BDNF and GDNF gene expression in the co-culture group was significantly higher than SCs (P<0.01). Gene expression of Map2 in co-culture group was also significantly higher than both NSC and SC groups (P<0.01). Therefore, co-cultured SCs and NSCs promote differentiation of NSCs into neurons and secrete higher levels of neurotropic factors including BDNF and GDNF. FAU - Yu, Ziwei AU - Yu Z AD - Department of Otolaryngology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, P.R. China. FAU - Men, Yongzhi AU - Men Y AD - Department of Otolaryngology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, P.R. China. FAU - Dong, Pin AU - Dong P AD - Department of Otolaryngology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, P.R. China. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20170306 PL - Greece TA - Exp Ther Med JT - Experimental and therapeutic medicine JID - 101531947 PMC - PMC5443174 OTO - NOTNLM OT - co-culture OT - neural stem cells OT - neurotropic factors OT - schwann cells EDAT- 2017/06/02 06:00 MHDA- 2017/06/02 06:01 PMCR- 2017/03/06 CRDT- 2017/06/02 06:00 PHST- 2015/07/23 00:00 [received] PHST- 2017/01/20 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2017/06/02 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2017/06/02 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2017/06/02 06:01 [medline] PHST- 2017/03/06 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - ETM-0-0-4183 [pii] AID - 10.3892/etm.2017.4183 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Exp Ther Med. 2017 May;13(5):2029-2035. doi: 10.3892/etm.2017.4183. Epub 2017 Mar 6.