Alternative Sources of Neurons and Glia from Somatic Stem Cells

Stem cell populations have been shown to be extremely versatile: they can generate differentiated cells specific to the tissue in which they reside and descendents that are of different germ layer origin. This raises the possibility of obtaining neuronal cells from new biological source of the same...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yvan Torrente, Marzia Belicchi, Federica Pisati, Stefano F. Pagano, Francesco Fortunato, Manuela Sironi, Maria Grazia D'angelo, Eugenio A. Parati, Guglielmo Scarlato, Nereo Bresolin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2002-01-01
Series:Cell Transplantation
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3727/096020198389753
Description
Summary:Stem cell populations have been shown to be extremely versatile: they can generate differentiated cells specific to the tissue in which they reside and descendents that are of different germ layer origin. This raises the possibility of obtaining neuronal cells from new biological source of the same adult human subjects. In this study, we found that epidermal growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) cooperated to induce the proliferation, self-renewal, and expansion of neural stem cell-like population isolated from several newborn and adult mouse tissues: muscle and hematopoietic tissues. This population, in both primary culture and secondary expanded clones, formed spheres of undifferentiated cells that were induced to differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. Brain engraftment of the somatic-derived neural stem cells generated neuronal phenotypes, demonstrating the great plasticity of these cells with potential clinical application.
ISSN:0963-6897
1555-3892