Research articleElectric field stimulation induced neuronal differentiation of filum terminale derived neural progenitor cells

- We designed an EF setup and generated a protocol to help long-term differentiation induction.
- EFs significantly increase neuronal differentiation rate of FT derived NPCs.
- EFs align neurite outgrowth and promote the length of neurite processes.

Adult filum terminale (FT) is an atypical region from where multipotent neural progenitor cells (NPCs) have been isolated. However, poor neuronal differentiation rate of FT-NPCs currently limits their clinical applications. Using custom-designed electric fields (EFs), this study sets up a method to significantly improve neuronal differentiation rate of rat FT-NPCs in vitro. We investigated the influence of EF strength on rat FT-NPCs differentiation. By adding reasonable strength of EF to FT-NPCs, our data shows a significant increase in neuronal differentiation rate. The present innovation provides a novel method of directional differentiation and efficient production of neurons from FT-NPCs in vitro. This improved approach for inducing neuronal differentiation can be applied to future research on autoplastic transplantation.