title: Multipotency of FBD-103a, a neural progenitor cell line from the p53-deficient mouse.
abstract: We previously established cell lines from brains of p53-deficient embryos, and have now characterized one of these lines, FBD-103a, in detail. Recloning FBD-103a yielded 3 types of subclones: 5 generated the neuronal lineage (Type 1), 3 generated the glial lineage (Type 2), and 10 gave rise to both lineages as the parental line (Type 3), indicating that FBD-103a is a multipotent neural progenitor cell line indistinguishable from true neural stem cells. RT-PCR analyses of transcription factor expression indicated that the transition of multipotent Type 3 clones to either neuronally or glially differentiated progeny was marked by down-regulation of Ascl1/Mash1 and Olig1 and up-regulation of Nrsf/Rest. As expected for neural stem cells, FBD-103a and Type 3 clones formed neurospheres when cultured on a non-adhesive substrate in a serum-free medium containing fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2). Interestingly, the transition between Type 3 and Type 1 neuronal- or Type 2 glial-specified cells proved to be reversible; Type 1 and Type 2 subclones could also form neurospheres, from which both neuron-generating and glia-generating progenies could be derived. Moreover, when maintained on an adherent substratum that prevented neurosphere formation, but with FGF2 and without serum, Type 2 clones could generate Type 3 multipotent cells. Thus, at least in the absence of p53, specialized cell-cell interactions within neurospheres are not essential for persistence or recapture of the capacity for self-renewal and multipotency by cells differentiating along glial pathways, a result of possible significance to the pathogenesis of malignant brain tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda City, Chiba 278-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horiuchi
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Pleasure
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tomooka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002999:Clone Cells; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000502:physiology; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000235:genetics; D016158:Genes, p53 / Q000235:genetics*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor