title: Porous chitosan scaffold and ngf promote neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells in vitro.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Successful neural stem cells (NSCs) therapies require the controlled differentiation of NSCs into neurons. Porous chitosan scaffold was explored if it promoted neuronal differentiation of NSCs in the presence of nerve growth factor (NGF) in 3-dimensional (3-D) culture.
  
  
  METHODS
  Chitosan scaffold was made by the freeze-drying technique. NSCs were cultured under four different conditions: on flat cover slips (2-D structure) in media with or without NGF, and on chitosan scaffold (3-D structure) in media with or without NGF. Immunohistochemical staining was used to observe multi-directional differentiation of cultured NSCs. Photomicrographs were taken and analyzed for cell number, soma size, and neuronal process length.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The porosity index of chitosan scaffold was around 90% and the diameter of pores was 50-350 μm. NSCs could differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes under all culture conditions. The rank efficacy for neuronal differentiation was 3-D culture with NGF group > 3-D culture without NGF group > 2-D culture with NGF group > 2-D culture without NGF group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that the combination of chitosan scaffold and NGF exerts a synergistic effect on neuronal differentiation of NSCs, a requirement for successful integration into the damaged central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Nantong University, Nantong, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Meiling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Weifeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Jianbing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology; D048271:Chitosan; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000166:cytology; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D048271:Chitosan; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor