Objective To investigate the feasibility of differentiation of invitro induced rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells(rMSCs) into retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells.Methods The rMSCs from Brwon-Norway (BN) rats were isolated and cultured by adherent screening method.RPE cells lysate made by repeated freeze-thawing was put into the rMSCs culture system to identify whether the induced cells could express characteristic label cytokeratin(CK)and S-100 simultaneously or not.Results The growth rate of rMSCs induced by RPE cells lysate was slower and protuberant burr surrounded the fusiform cells.The results of immunoblotting and double immunofluorescence showed that partial induced cells expressed CK and S-100 simultaneously.The result of flow cytometry indicated that 14.1% induced cells expressed CK and S-100 simultaneously.Conclusion Induced by RPE cells lysate,rMSCs can differentiate into RPE cells.