Effect of cell culture using chitosan membranes on stemness marker genes in mesenchymal stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy is a promising treatment for diseases of the nervous system. However, MSCs often lose their stemness and homing abilities when cultured in conventional two-dimensional (2D) systems. Consequently, it is important to explore novel culture methods for MSC-based therapies in clinical practice. To investigate the effect of a cell culture using chitosan membranes on MSCs, the morphology of MSCs cultured using chitosan membranes was observed and the expression of stemness marker genes was analyzed. We demonstrated that MSCs cultured using chitosan membranes form spheroids. Additionally, the expression of stemness marker genes, including Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog, increased significantly when MSCs were cultured using chitosan membranes compared with 2D culture systems. Finally, MSCs cultured using chitosan membranes were found to have an increased potential to differentiate into nerve cells and chrondrocytes. In conclusion, we demonstrated that MSCs cultured on chitosan membranes maintain their stemness and homing abilities. This finding may be further investigated for the development of novel cell-based therapies for diseases involving neuron-like cells and chondrogenesis.