Human Endometrial Stem Cells May Differentiate into Schwann Cells in Fibrin Gel as 3D Culture

Abstract

Damage in central nervous system plays an important role in biological life and causes severe paralysis of limbs and some organs. There are solutions to problems that can be a great revolution in the transplanted spinal cord and nerve injuries. Schwann cells (SCs) have important roles in development, myelination and regeneration in the peripheral nervous system. The applications of SCs in regenerative medicine are limited because of slow growth rate and difficulties in harvesting. Critical to the hypothesis is the experimental fact that human endometrial-derived stem cells (hEnSCs) as multipotent accessible source of cells are known as useful cell candidates in the field of nerve tissue engineering. We decided to use the three-dimensional culture of Schwann cells differentiated from endometrial stem cell in fibrin gel. In this study, we investigate the expression of differentiated Schwann cell markers by exposing of endometrial stem cells with induction media including FGF2/FSK/HRG/RA. Using immunocytochemistry, we show that differentiated cells express S100 and P75 markers. These results show that for the first time, human endometrial stem cells can be differentiated into Schwann cells in 2D and 3D culture. These novel differentiated cells in fibrin gel might open new opportunities for the management of cell survival and neurotrophic potential in tissue engineering approaches for nerve repair.