Abstract: Objective To investigate the function of human glia maturation factor gamma to induce the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells into astrocytes. Methods The neural stem cells were isolated from the cerebral cortex of 11-to 12-day embryoes of SD rats. After three passages of culture of the cells, the cells could react with nestin antigen, which demonstrated that the cells were neural stem cells. The neural stem cells were divided into 4 groups, control group with only medium, FBS group with culture medium and FBS, GMFG 5μg/L group with medium and 5μg/L of GMFG, GMFG 10μg/L group with medium and 10μg/L of GMFG. Results In the control group, the cells had no distinct differentiation within two days and slight branches were observed till the fourth day. In the FBS group, the cells differentiated into astrocytes within three days, which grew on the surface of the culture flasks. In the GMFG group, the cells differentiated into astrocytes within one day, and the differentiation of cells from the 10μg/L group was more obvious than that of cells from the 5μg/L group. The cells from the 10μg/L group reacted weakly with GFAP antigen. Conclusion GMFG could induce the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells into astrocytes effectively in vitro.