Rat Osteoblasts Transformed Into Neural Cells Induced In Vitro Study

Objective To research the differentiation feasibility of the osteoblast in vitrocultured from the rats' periosteum to the neuron induced by the flavoneextracted from Chinese Crude Drug "Loulu" and to find the new approachof treating the injury of the central nerve and surrowding nerve.Methods With the method of tissue culture ,obtaining the osteoblast in vitro fromthe rats' periosteum . After purification and proliferation, the effects ofdifferent dosage of the flavone on growth and proliferation of theosteoblast in vitro were observed by MTT assay and the optimal dosagewas chosen to be used for inducing. Under phase contrast microscope,observing the morphological changes of the induced osteoblast with theflavone and the DMSO respectively in different induced period of 24h 48hand 72h and in induced period of 72h, detecting the neuronal specificmarkers of the induced cells such as NSE and GFAP with the RT-PCRtechnique.Results During the range of the drug concentration (0.09%—1.92%),compared with the blank group, the OD of the flavone group minished significantly (P<0.01) and the line graph showed that the inhibitory rate decreased when the drug concentration increased. In induced period of 72h, the .osteoblast both the flavone group and the DMSO group exhibited the neuron morphology and expressed the neuronal specific markers: NSE and GFAP.