RESUMO
Objective To study the effect of astrocyte-derived factors on the differentiation of neural stem cells from neonatal rats. Methods Neural stem cells from neonatal rats were isolated, cultured and expanded by neurosphere formation. Astrocytes were isolated and purified by a standard shaking method and the differential adhesion technique. With immunocytochemical labeling, the purity of astrocytes was determined by the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP). Astrocytes and neural stem cells were co-cultured without contact. Immunofluorescence examination was used to detect the effects of astrocyte-derived factors on the expression of neuron specific enolase (NSE), GFAP, and tyrosine hydroxylase(TH) of the differentiated cells. Results The purified astrocytes were 98% of GFAP positive. Co-culturing the neurospheres with astrocytes promoted more neural stem cells rapidly differentiationinto NSE positive cells( P