title: Nerve growth factor promotes in vitro proliferation of neural stem cells from tree shrews.
abstract: Neural stem cells promote neuronal regeneration and repair of brain tissue after injury, but have limited resources and proliferative ability in vivo. We hypothesized that nerve growth factor would promote in vitro proliferation of neural stem cells derived from the tree shrews, a primate-like mammal that has been proposed as an alternative to primates in biomedical translational research. We cultured neural stem cells from the hippocampus of tree shrews at embryonic day 38, and added nerve growth factor (100 μg/L) to the culture medium. Neural stem cells from the hippocampus of tree shrews cultured without nerve growth factor were used as controls. After 3 days, fluorescence microscopy after DAPI and nestin staining revealed that the number of neurospheres and DAPI/nestin-positive cells was markedly greater in the nerve growth factor-treated cells than in control cells. These findings demonstrate that nerve growth factor promotes the proliferation of neural stem cells derived from tree shrews.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Institute of Neurological Disease, Translational Neuroscience Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Liu-Lin
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China; Key Laboratory of National Physical Fitness and Altitude Training Adaptation in Yunnan Province; Institute of Physical Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Wei
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Institute of Neurological Disease, Translational Neuroscience Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China; Institute of Neuroscience, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China; Key Laboratory of National Physical Fitness and Altitude Training Adaptation in Yunnan Province; Institute of Physical Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
authors.forename: Ting-Hua
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0775-9602
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: cell number; cell proliferation; cell therapy; embryo; hippocampus; in vitro; nerve growth factor; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; neural stem cells; neurosphere; tree shrews