Abstract: Objective To test the hypothesis that psoralen induces rat mesenchymal stem cells (RMSCs) to differentiate towards
male germ cells. Methods RMSCs were induced by psoralen at the final concentration of 3.0 μg/ml, and the morphological
changes of the cells were detected microscopically and the cell proliferation changes were measured by MTT assay. The
expressions of 7 representative marker genes of male germ cells, namely Oct-4, Stra8, RVLG, SCP3, TNP2, Itgb1, and Itga6, were
investigated in the induced cells by real-time quantitative PCR. Results RMSCs showed no obvious morphological changes
after induction with 3.0 μg/ml psoralen for 72 h. Psoralen induction for 5 days did not significantly affect the proliferation of
RMSCs; Psoralen induction for 72 h, however, significantly up-regulated the genes Oct-4, Stra8, SCP3, and Itgb1 (P<0.05)
without affecting the expressions of the genes RVLG, TNP2, or Itga6 (P>0.05). Conclusion Psoralen may participate in the
differentiation of RMSCs towards male germ cells.