Hydrophobic PDMS promotes neural progenitor formation from SHEDs by Schwann cell–cultivated medium induction

ABSTRACTIn this study, the ability of rat Schwann cell-conditioned medium to transdifferentiate stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHEDs) into neural-like cells was evaluated. Furthermore, the potential effects of the hydrophobic polymer polydimethylsiloxane on neurosphere formation by the neural-like transdifferentiated SHED were investigated. The inducing effects of Rat Schwann cell-cultivated medium (RSC-CM) to SHED differentiation were investigated by inverted phase contrast microscopy. Cellular clusters formed fast at 7-day culture. Immune-fluorescent staining and neural gene expression performed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction showed the positive expression of nestin, tubulin III, γ-enolase, and glial fibrillary acidic protein of neural marker. Thus, RSC-CM can induce effectively neural differentiation from SHED cells.