Direct Conversion of Cord Blood CD34+ Cells Into Neural Stem Cells by OCT4.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

: Cellular reprogramming or conversion is a promising strategy to generate desired stem cell types from somatic cells. Neural stem cells (NSCs) have the potential to regenerate central nervous system tissue and repair damage in response to injury. However, NSCs are difficult to isolate from human tissues and expand in sufficient quantities for therapy. Here, we report a method to generate neural stem cells from cord blood CD34-positive cells by ectopic expression of OCT4 in a feeder-free system. The induced cells (iNSCs) show a characteristic NSC-like morphology and can be expanded in vitro for more than 20 passages. In addition, the iNSCs are positive for neural stem cell-specific markers such as Nestin and Musashi-1 and are similar in gene expression patterns to a huma

SUBMITTER: Liao W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4479625 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature