Culture and identification of neural stem cells from the spinal cord of adult C57 mice

Objective To culture, identify, and induce differentiation for neural stem cells from the spinal cord of adult mice. Methods C57 mice and floating neural stem cell culture procedures were employed. Results Neurospheres of neural stem cells emerged after plating for one or two weeks. They had potent self-renewing ability and could be passaged repeatedly. With immunofluorescent double labeling techniques it was showed that these spheres strongly expressed nestin, a characteristic intermediate filament seen in neural stem cells, and could be further induced to express β-tubulin III, GFAP and RIP, suggesting their differentiating potencies into neurons, astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. Conclusion The present study indicated that a few neural stem cells reside in the spinal cord of adult C57 mice, and these cells have ability to self-renew and further differentiate into neurons or glia in vitro .