Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from chicken fetal liver are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate in vitro into various terminally differentiated cells.The majority of studies of MSCs have been focused on human.In this study,chicken liver-derived MSCs were isolated from 7-day-old embryo of Beijing fatty chickens.Primary liver-derived MSCs were sub-cultured to passage 15.The surface markers,CD29,CD44,CD71 and CD73 of liver-derived MSCs were detected by RT-PCR and the surface markers,CD34 and CK19 of hematopoietic progenitor cells/hepatic oval cells were not detected by immunofluorescence.The best culture conditions were determined by drawing growth curve and the cells cycle were investigated.Liver-derived MSCs were successfully induced and differentiated into adipocytes and myocardial cells.The results suggested that the MSCs isolated from chicken fetal liver possess similar biological characteristics with those derived from human,and their multilineage potential would provide many possible applications.