Abstract: Abstract Objective：To study the capacity of different mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to be differentiated into nerve-like cells in vitro. Methods: The fetal derm-derived MSCs (group A), fetal bone marrow-derived MSCs (group B) and adult bone marrow-derived MSCs (group C) were separated and cultured in expanded medium. The morphology and doubling time of MSCs were detected by inverted microscope. The phenotype and cell cycle of MSCs were detected by flow cytometry. All-trans-retinoic-acid (ATRA) was used to induce three different MSCs to differentiate into nerve-like cells. The differentiated cells were observed by phase-contrast microscopy and detected by immunocytochemistry for neuron-specific marker-neurofilament (NF) and astrocyte specific marker-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Results：Our results showed that MSCs derived from three groups were similar in phenotype， morphology and cell cycle. However, the abilities of expansion and passage of MSCs derived from C group were lower than that of MSCs derived from A and B group. After treatment with ATRA, the generations of the three different MSCs group showed typical morphological characteristic of nerve cells. Results of immunocytochemistry staining and Western blot showed that the differentiated nerve-like cells expressed NF and GFAP. Conclusion：Three different sources of MSCs can be induced into nerve-like cells in vitro. But, MSCs in different development stage have different ability of being differentiated into nerve-like cells in vitro.