title: The fetal hypothalamus has the potential to generate cells with a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) phenotype.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neurospheres (NS) are colonies of neural stem and precursor cells capable of differentiating into the central nervous system (CNS) cell lineages upon appropriate culture conditions: neurons, and glial cells. NS were originally derived from the embryonic and adult mouse striatum subventricular zone. More recently, experimental evidence substantiated the isolation of NS from almost any region of the CNS, including the hypothalamus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here we report a protocol that enables to generate large quantities of NS from both fetal and adult rat hypothalami. We found that either FGF-2 or EGF were capable of inducing NS formation from fetal hypothalamic cultures, but that only FGF-2 is effective in the adult cultures. The hypothalamic-derived NS are capable of differentiating into neurons and glial cells and most notably, as demonstrated by immunocytochemical detection with a specific anti-GnRH antibody, the fetal cultures contain cells that exhibit a GnRH phenotype upon differentiation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This in vitro model should be useful to study the molecular mechanisms involved in GnRH neuronal differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Service of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salvi
authors.forename: Yvan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Arsenijevic
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giacomini
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rey
authors.forename: Marie-Jeanne
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Voirol
authors.forename: Rolf Christian
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Gaillard
authors.forename: Pierre-Yves
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Risold
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pralong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D048430:Cell Shape; D005333:Fetus / Q000166:cytology*; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology*; D046569:Neuroepithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010641:Phenotype; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014157:Transcription Factors; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone