First published online August 26, 2004
Journal of Cell Science 117, 1901e (2004)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
From bone marrow cell to neural stem cell
It is increasingly clear that tissue-specific stem cells might not be as lineage restricted as originally thought. For example, neural stem cells can repopulate the haematopoietic system, and rare multipotent adult rodent bone marrow stem cells can differentiate into most somatic lineages. Now, Alexander Storch and co-workers describe the efficient conversion of adult human mesodermal stromal cells (hMSCs) from bone marrow into neural stem cell (NSC)-like cells (see p. 4411). The authors convert hMSCs into human marrow-derived NSC-like cells (hmNSCs) by growing them as non-adherent neurospheres – NSCs have previously been derived from embryonic stem cells by a similar approach. The hmNSCs express proneural markers but lose mesodermal markers and, in the presence of selected growth factors, differentiate into astroglia, oligodendroglia and neurons – the three main neural phenotypes. Their cell culture system, say Storch and colleagues, will aid the investigation of the molecular mechanisms of human neural differentiation and could provide a source of autologous cells for the treatment of human neurodegenerative diseases.
Related articles in JCS:
- Efficient generation of neural stem cell-like cells from adult human bone marrow stromal cells
- Andreas Hermann, Regina Gastl, Stefan Liebau, M. Oana Popa, Jörg Fiedler, Bernhard O. Boehm, Martina Maisel, Holger Lerche, Johannes Schwarz, Rolf Brenner, and Alexander Storch
JCS 2004 117: 4411-4422.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
