Neural progenitor cell differentiation from fetal placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells

In this differentiation protocol, placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells are differentiated into neural progenitor cells, by culturing them as spheroids. When transplanted into the brains of an hypoxic-ischemic animal model, the progenitor cells differentiated into neuronal cells and improved the locomotor activity of the ischemic rats. Alternatively, the neural progenitor cells can be terminally differentiated into neurons by incubation in neural differentiation medium, supplemented with retinoic acid, followed by incubation in conditioned medium of a neuroblastoma cell line.