The value of GFAP promoter driven fluorescent reporter system in the neural differentiation tracing of neural stem cells / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Neural stem cells, as a hot topic in neuroscience research, have a wide application prospect in the treatment of neurological damage, but how to obtain a large number of terminally differentiated and purified nerve cells with homogeneous features is a difficult problem in this field. The use of intracellular fluorescence reporter system to track the process of neural stem cell differentiation and obtain a single kind of terminally differentiated and purified nerve cells provides a viable option. OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of GFAP promoter-driven fluorescence reporter system in tracing the neural differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs). METHODS: Cerebral cortex of mouse embryos were primarily dissociated and sent for digesting and pipetting mechanically before suspension culture, followed by immunofluorescence staining of Nestin to identify their biological characteristics. Lentivirus carrying pLV/Final-neo-GFAP(promoter)-dTomato vector was employed to infect above-mentioned NSCs, and Geneticin (G418) was used to obtain purified NSCs at 14 days. Subsequently the purified cells were induced to differentiate into astrocyte-like cells; meanwhile red fluorescence changes in cells were observed by microscopy. The red fluorescent cells were then subjected to perform immunofluorescence staining at 13 days after induction. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The expression of Nestin in the isolated primary cells was strongly positive. Purified NSCs were obtained by lentivirus infection and subsequent G418 resistance selection at 14 days. After induced into astrocyte-like cells, the red fluorescence was observed in the cells under the microscope and furthermore, GFAP staining was also positive. Mouse NSCs carrying neo-GFAP(promoter)-dTomato were successfully obtained. The cells could express dTomato under the control of GFAP promoter, which provides a powerful tool for research on NSC differentiation mechanism, neural transplantation and tissue engineering product development.