Establishment of endogenous human tympanic membrane-derived somatic stem cells for stem cell therapy.

We examined whether somatic stem cells (SSCs) exist in human tympanis membrane (hTM) and whether they could be differentiated into neural lineage cells. The hTM-SSCs could generate neurospheres, which could differentiate into specific neural linage cells under specific differentiation conditions. Also, we conducted another experiment that led to differentiation into neurospheres and neuronal lineage cells, which occurred independent of each other. Independent of each other condition, hTM-SSCs could differentiate into neurospheres, and subsequently, into neuronal lineage cells. However, NS-NR neural differentiation rates are higher than independent of each other culture system.