Journal of Genetic Medicine J GM stem cells, the last of which can be obtained from fetal tissues, including amniotic fluid [5]. Analyses of human amniotic fluid have been used as safe and reliable screening tools for fetal genetic and congenital diseases for many years [6]. Amniotic fluid contains cells originating from both embryonic and extraembryonic tissues (amnion, placenta, fetus skin, and respiratory, gastrointestinal, and urinary tracts) during human development, displaying a heterogeneous cell Neurogenic potentials of human amniotic fuid-derived stem cells according to expression levels of stem cell markers and ingredients of induction medium Eun Hye Lim 1,† , Jung Ah Cho 1,† , Ho Park 1 , Tae Jong Song 2 , Woo Young Kim 2 , Kye Hyun Kim 2 , and Kyo Won Lee 1,2 * 1 Adult Stem Cells Research Institute, 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Original Article J Genet Med 2015;12(1):31-37 http://dx.doi.org/10.5734/JGM.2015.12.1.31 ISSN 1226-1769 (Print) 2383-8442 (Online) Introduction Stem cells have the ability to self-renew by producing equipotent progeny and to differentiate into a variety of cell types that make up each organ in the human body [1]. These stem cell properties have been studied for their application to repair damaged areas and injured tissues within the body [2-4]. Stem cells are generally divided into embryonic, adult, and fetal Received: 10 April 2015, Revised: 10 June 2015, Accepted: 17 June 2015, Published: 30 June 2015 *Corresponding author: Kyo Won Lee, M.D., Ph.D. Adult Stem Cells Research Institute, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 29 Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-746, Korea. Tel: +82-2-2001-2498, Fax: +82-2-2001-2187, E-mail: kw4773.lee@samsung.com † These authors contributed equally to this work. Conflict of interest: We declare that we do not have any conflicts of interests. ㏄ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. c Copyright 2015 by the Korean Society of Medical Genetics www.e-kjgm.org Purpose: We investigated the neurogenic potentials of amniotic fuid-derived stem cells (AFSCs) according to the expression levels of stem cell markers and ingredients in the neural induction media. Materials and Methods: Four samples of AFSCs with different levels of Oct-4 and c-kit expression were differentiated neurally, using three kinds of induction media containing retinoic acid (RA) and/or a mixture of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine/ indomethacin/insulin (neuromix), and examined by immunofluorescence and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for their expression of neurospeci fc markers. Results: The cells in neuromix-containing media displayed small nuclei and long processes that were characteristic of neural cells. RT-PCR analysis revealed that the number of neural markers showing upregulation was greater in cells cultured in the neuromix-containing media than in those cultured in RA-only medium. Neurospecifc gene expression was also higher in Oct-4 and c-kit double-positive cells than in c-kit-low or -negative cells. Conclusion: The stem cell marker c-kit (rather than Oct-4) and the ingredient neuromix (rather than RA) exert greater effects on neurogenesis of AFSCs. Key words: Stem cells, Amniotic fuid, Neurogenesis.