Institute of Neurological Disease, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, P.R. China.
Department of Anesthesiology, Sun Yat‑Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat‑Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510120, P.R. China.
Mol Med Rep. 2018 Apr;17(4):5676-5683. doi: 10.3892/mmr.2018.8589. Epub 2018 Feb 12.
Neural stem cells (NSCs) are characterized by the ability of self‑renewal and capacity to proliferate and produce new nervous tissue. NSCs are capable of differentiating to three lineages of neural cells, including neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. Furthermore, hippocampal NSCs transplantation can improve the neurological deficits associated with expression of cytokines. Therefore, to compare the properties of NSCs of tree shrews and rats in vitro, NSCs from tree shrews (tsNSCs) and rats f(rNSCs) were isolated. Nestin was used as a marker to identify the cultured NSCs. Neuronal nuclei protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were utilized to demonstrate the differentiation of NSCs towards neurons and astrocytes, respectively, in vitro. Furthermore, the expression of neurotrophin 3 (NT3), brain‑derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial cell‑derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and transforming growth factor (TGF)β1 was also investigated in tsNSCs and rNSCs. The expression of all of the aforementioned proteins was detected using immunofluorescence methods. The results demonstrated that, after 5 days of culture, the average number of neurospheres in the cultured tsNSCs was significantly lower compared with rNSCs (P=0.0031). Additionally, compared with the rNSCs, tsNSCs exhibited an enhanced differentiation ability towards neurons. Furthermore, the expression of NT3 in the tsNSCs was higher compared with rNSCs (P<0.01), while the expression of BDNF was lower (P=0.045). However, no significant differences were observed in the expression level of GDNF and TGFβ1 between rNSCs and tsNSCs. Therefore, these results indicate that tsNSCs exhibit specific characteristics that are different from rNSCs, which provides novel information for the understanding of NSCs obtained from tree shrews. Overall, the results of the current study provide evidence to support the increased application of tree shrews as models for diseases of the central nervous system.
神经干细胞（NSCs）的特征是自我更新的能力和增殖并产生新的神经组织的能力。NSCs 能够分化为三种神经细胞谱系，包括神经元、少突胶质细胞和星形胶质细胞。此外，海马 NSCs 移植可以改善与细胞因子表达相关的神经功能缺损。因此，为了比较树鼩和大鼠 NSCs 的体外特性，分离了树鼩（tsNSCs）和大鼠（rNSCs）的 NSCs。巢蛋白被用作鉴定培养的 NSCs 的标志物。神经元核蛋白和胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP）分别用于证明 NSCs 体外向神经元和星形胶质细胞的分化。此外，还研究了 tsNSCs 和 rNSCs 中神经营养因子 3（NT3）、脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）、胶质细胞源性神经营养因子（GDNF）和转化生长因子（TGF）β1 的表达。使用免疫荧光法检测所有上述蛋白的表达。结果表明，培养 5 天后，培养的 tsNSCs 中神经球的平均数量明显低于 rNSCs（P=0.0031）。此外，与 rNSCs 相比，tsNSCs 向神经元分化的能力增强。此外，tsNSCs 中 NT3 的表达高于 rNSCs（P<0.01），而 BDNF 的表达较低（P=0.045）。然而，rNSCs 和 tsNSCs 之间 GDNF 和 TGFβ1 的表达水平没有差异。因此，这些结果表明 tsNSCs 表现出与 rNSCs 不同的特定特征，为了解树鼩 NSCs 提供了新的信息。总体而言，本研究结果为增加树鼩作为中枢神经系统疾病模型的应用提供了证据。
