title: Prospective isolation of late development multipotent precursors whose migration is promoted by EGFR.
abstract: A simple procedure to isolate neural stem cells would greatly facilitate direct studies of their properties. Here, we exploited the increase in EGF receptor (EGFR) levels, that occurs in late development stem cells or in younger precursors upon exposure to FGF-2, to isolate cells expressing high levels of EGFR (EGFR(high)) from the developing and the adult brain. Independently of age and region of isolation, EGFR(high) cells were highly enriched in multipotent precursors and displayed similar antigenic characteristics, with the exception of GFAP and Lex/SSEA-1 that were mainly expressed in adult EGFR(high) cells. EGFR levels did not correlate with neurogenic potential, indicating that the increase in EGFR expression does not directly affect differentiation. Instead, in the brain, many EGFR(high) precursors showed tangential orientation and, whether isolated from the cortex or striatum, EGFR(high) precursors displayed characteristics of cells originating from the ventral GZ such as expression Dlx and Mash-1 and the ability to generate GABAergic neurons and oligodendrocytes. Moreover, migration of EGFR(high) cells on telencephalic slices required EGFR activity. Thus, the developmentally regulated increase in EGFR levels may affect tangential migration of multipotent precursors. In addition, it can be used as a marker to effectively isolate telencephalic multipotent precursors from embryonic and adult tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences (IZN), University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 364, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. f.ciccolini@uni-hd.de
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ciccolini
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mandl
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hölzl-Wenig
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kehlenbach
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hellwig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002232:Carbocyanines; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002232:Carbocyanines; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; C024286:3,3'-dioctadecylindocarbocyanine; D066246:ErbB Receptors