Wnt Receptor Frizzled-4 as a Marker for Isolation of Enteric Neural Progenitors in Human Children

Identification and isolation of neural progenitor cells from the human enteric nervous system (ENS) is currently hampered by the lack of reliable, specific markers. Here, we define the Wnt-receptor frizzled-4 as a marker for the isolation of enteric neural progenitor cells derived from paediatric gut samples. We show that the Wnt-receptor frizzled-4 is expressed in the human colon and in Tunica muscularis-derived enterospheres. To obtain a purified culture, we carried out fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) using PE-conjugated frizzled-4 antibodies. Frizzled-4(positive) cells gave rise to neurosphere-like bodies and ultimately differentiated into neurons as revealed by BrdU-proliferation assays and immunocytochemistry, whereas in frizzled-4(negative) cultures we did not detect any neuronal and glial cells. By using a patch-clamp approach, we also demonstrated the expression of functional sodium and potassium channels in frizzled-4(positive) cell cultures after differentiation in vitro.