Fetal and adult human CNS stem cells have similar molecular characteristics and developmental potential.

The mammalian central nervous system (CNS) contains multipotent stem cells that develop into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Our current data show that fetal and adult human CNS stem cell isolates display similar proliferation kinetics, differentiate into three major cell types of the nervous system and express similar sets of regulatory genes. However, each individual CNS stem cell isolate could be distinguished by its specific gene expression and developmental potential.