Objective To isolate and purify the human periodontal ligament stem cells（PDLSC） and investigate the differentiation potentials of PDLSC into neuron-like cells in vitro. Methods PDLSC were isolated and cultivated. PDLSC of passage 2 was plated at a density of 5×103 per mL. At 80% confluence, the PDLSC were preinduced for 24 hours, and were subsequently replaced with an inducing medium containing certain concentration of β-mercaptoethanal （β-ME）. After 6 hours of induction, the results were evaluated by morphological observation, immunocytochemical staining for neuron specific enolase（NSE）, neurofilament（NF） and glial fibrillary acid protein（GFAP） expression and RT-PCR for NSE, NF, GFAP mRNA. Meanwhile, the uninduced PDLSC were used as a negative control. Results PDLSC could be differentiate into cells with typical neuronal morphology. Immunohisto-chemistry and RT-PCR confirmed that the induced cells expressed NSE and NF, two marked enzymes of neuron cell. Conclusion PDLSC can be induced into neuron-like cells in vitro. PDLSC have the capability of multilineage differentiations.
