Differentiation of rhesus adipose stem cells into dopaminergic neurons

LIM homeobox transcription factor la （Lmxla） has the capacity to initiate the development program of neuronal cells and promote the differentiation of embryonic stem cells into dopaminergic neurons. In this study, rhesus adipose stem cells were infected with recombinant adenovirus carrying the Lmxla gene and co-cultured with embryonic rat neural stem cells. Cell differentiation was induced using sonic hedgehog and fibroblast growth factor-8. Immunofluorescence staining showed that cells were positive for neuron-specific enolase and ~-tubulin II1. Reverse transcription-PCR results demonstrated that rhesus adipose stem cells were not only positive for neuron-specific enolase and I~-tubulin III, but also positive for the dopaminergic neuron marker, tyrosine hydroxylase, neurofilament, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor family receptor a2 and nuclear receptor related factor 1. The number of Lmxla gene-infected cells expressing the dopaminergic neuron marker was substantially greater than the number of cells not infected with Lmxla gene. These results suggest that Lmxla-mediated regulation combined with the strategy of co-culture with neural stem cells can robustly promote the differentiation of rhesus adipose stem cells into dopaminergic neurons.