Astrocyte-conditioned Medium Promotes the Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells from Hippocampus of Neonate Rats

Objective To study the influence of astrocyte-conditioned medium(ACM)on the differentiation of neural stem cells(NSCs)in vitro. Methods Astrocytes from the cerebral cortex of neonate rats were cultured and purified, and ACM was collected. NSCs from hippocampus of neonate rats were obtained, immunofluorescence stain was used to show nestin-, neuron specific enolase( NSE) -, glial fibrillary acidic protein( GFAP) - and galacto cerebroside(GALC)-positive cells. Monoclone cultured NSCs were divided into control group(NSCs medium)and experimental groups (with different proportions of NSCs medium and ACM: A group 1:2, B group 1:1, C group 2:1). The percentage of NSE positive cells was counted and the data was analyzed in statistics. Results The percentage of GFAP positive cells was 96.5% in purified astrocytes, the cultured NSCs showed nestin positive, NSE, GFAP and GALC positive. The percentage of NSE positive cells differentiated from NSCs was much higher in experimental groups than in control group ( 0. 01), with the highest percentage in A group. Conclusion ACM can promote the differentiation of NSCs into neurons in hippocampus of neonate rats.