Role of autophagy on bone marrow mesenchymal stem-cell proliferation and differentiation into neurons

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of autophagy on rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation into neurons. After treatment with rapamycin, 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or chloroquine, the cell cycle, apoptosis, expression of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of Notch1 in BMSCs were examined by flow cytometry. The expression of microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2), Notch1 and Hes1 was investigated by western blot analysis. The results showed that after induction of autophagy using rapamycin, the proliferation of BMSCs was inhibited. Furthermore, the S-phase population was significantly decreased compared to that in the control group (P