Comparative study of MAP-2 and GFAP proteins expression during neural induction of human mesenchymal stem cells using western blot analysis

In recent years, adipose tissue, due to the stem cells contained within, has found a new special place in laboratory and clinical applications. These adipose‑derived stem cells (ADSCs) have the same characteristics of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). Although bone marrow (BM) is not easily accessible and its procurements may be painful, most patients possess excess fat which can be obtained by less invasive methods; this makes adipose tissue ubiquitous, available and an ideal large‑scale source for research on clinical applications. BMSCs and ADSCs were harvested from three healthy human and were characterized using flow‑cytometry. After they were treated for neurosphere formation using basic fibroblast growth factor, epidermal growth factor, B27; terminal differentiation was performed. In this study, we used immunocytochemistry, real time‑polymerase chain reaction and western blotting techniques for detection and comparison of Nestin, microtubule‑associated protein‑2 (MAP‑2) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) markers in human ADSCs and BMSCs. Under appropriate conditions ADSCs can differentiate into neuron‑like cells and express neural markers the same as BMSCs, also the expression of GFAP marker in differentiated cells derived from ADSCs was significantly lower than the cells derived from BMSCs (P < 0.05). While the expression of MAP‑2 marker in both groups was the same. However, due to its advantages and according to our results based on the expression levels of GFAP and MAP‑2, adipose tissue rather than BM could represent a more appropriate stem cell source for investigating the application of these cells in understanding the pathophysiology and in treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.