Objective:To investigate the role of ATP7B overexpression for the survival of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) of LEC rat in presence of various copper concentrations in vitro. Methods:Bone marrow cells were isolated from the femurs of LEC rat by flushing with rat MSCs growth medium;the lentivirus package system carrying ATP7B/green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene was constructed,and MSCs were infected by the virus. The expression of ATP7B was measured by immunofluorescence,Western blot and Real-time PCR. The SRB assay was used to analyze the viability of MSCs and HepG2 in the presence of various copper concentrations. Results:We successfully built up LEC rat MSCsATP7B which can stably express high level of ATP7B in vitro. In the SRB assay,the viability of MSCsATP7B was significantly higher than that of either MSCsGFP or HepG2 in the presence of high copper concentrations. Conclusion:MSCs of LEC rat rescued by ATP7B can effectively antagonize copper toxicity in vitro,and may represent a novel strategy for therapy of Wilson disease.