Mouse bone marrow stromal cells differentiate to neuron-like cells upon inhibition of BMP signaling

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) are a source of autologous stem cells that have the potential for undergoing differentiation into multiple cell types including neurons. Although the neuronal differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells has been studied for a long time, the molecular players involved are still not defined. Here we report that the genetic deletion of two members of the bone morphogenetic protein (Bmp) family, Bmp2 and Bmp4 in mouse BMSCs causes their differentiation into cells with neuron-like morphology. Surprisingly these cells expressed certain markers characteristic of both neuronal and glial cells. Based on this observation, we inhibited BMP signaling in mouse BMSCs through a brief exposure to Noggin protein which also led to their differentiation into cells expressing both neuronal and glial markers. Such cells seem to have the potential for further differentiation into subtypes of neuronal and glial cells and thus could be utilized for cell-based therapeutic applications.