Production of neurospheres from CNS tissue.
The relatively recent discovery of persistent adult neurogenesis has led to the experimental isolation and characterization of central nervous system neural stem cell populations. Protocols for in vitro analysis and expansion of neural stem cells are crucial for understanding their properties and defining characteristics. The methods described here allow for cell and molecular analysis of individual clones of cells--neurospheres--derived from neural stem/progenitor cells. Neurospheres can be cultivated from a variety of normal, genetically altered, or pathological tissue specimens, even with protracted postmortem intervals, for studies of mechanisms underlying neurogenesis, cell fate decisions, and cell differentiation. Neurosphere-forming cells hold great promise for the development of cell and molecular therapeutics for a variety of neurological diseases.
Marshall
Gregory P
GP
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Ross
Heather H
HH
Suslov
Oleg
O
Zheng
Tong
T
Steindler
Dennis A
DA
Laywell
Eric D
ED
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002999:Clone Cells; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure