Journal
JOURNAL OF HISTOCHEMISTRY & CYTOCHEMISTRY
Volume 51, Issue 1, Pages 89-103Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/002215540305100111
Keywords
stem cells; progenitor cells; ultrastructure; growth factors; cell markers; adhesion molecules; nestin
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Neural stem cells proliferate in liquid culture as cell clusters (neurospheres). This study was undertaken to characterize the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-expanded free-floating neurospheres derived from rat fetal striatum. We examined the ultrastructural and antigenic characteristics of these spheres. They consisted of two cell types, electron-dense and electron-lucent cells. Lucent cells were immunopositive to actin, vimentin, and nestin, whereas dense cells were immunopositive to actin, weakly positive to vimentin, and nestin-negative. Neurospheres contained healthy, apoptotic, and necrotic cells. Healthy cells were attached to each other by adherens junctions. They showed many pseudopodia and occasionally a single cilium. Sphere cells showed phagocytic capability because healthy cells phagocytosed the cell debris derived from dead cells in a particular stem cells process that involves the engulfment of dying cells by cell processes from healthy cells. Sphere cells showed a cytoplasmic and a nuclear pool of fibroblast (FGF) receptors. They expressed E- and N-cadherin, alpha- and beta-catenin, EGF receptor, and a specific growth factors subset of FGF receptors. Because sphere cells expressed this factor in the absence of exogenous FGF-2, we propose that they are able to synthesize FGF-2.
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