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BACKGROUND: Most studies mainly focus on using small molecules or viruses to obtain cardiomyocytes, but reports about the use of recombinant proteins to reprogram cells to obtain cardiomyocytes are rare. OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of recombinant Nkx2.5 protein on the transdifferentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into cardiomyocytes. METHODS: The prokaryotic expression vector of Nkx2.5 was constructed. Nkx2.5 protein was induced to express at different time points, and then was isolated and purified. Nkx2.5 was encapsulated with nano-transducers to form nano-protein complexes, which were transfected into human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. The protein transfection efficiency was then detected. After successful protein transduction, the expression of myosin heavy chain, a specific marker of cardiomyocytes, was detected and the transformation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into cardiomyocytes was observed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The protein expression was higher when the cells were induced with isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactoside at 28 oC for 4 hours. To conclude, the nano-Nkx2.5 complexes can be efficiently transfected into human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and promote the reprogramming of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into cardiomyocytes, but future studies are needed to improve the efficiency of the transdifferentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]