Effects of FGF-2 and EGF removal on the differentiationof mouse neural precursor cells

• Autor(a) principal: Schwindt,Telma T.
• Data de Publicação: 2009
• Outros Autores: Motta,Fabiana L., Gabriela F.,Barnabé, Cristina G.,Massant, Guimarães,Alessander O., Calcagnotto,Maria Elisa, Pesquero,João B., Mello,Luiz E.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652009000300009
• topic: neural precursor cells; neurosphere; fibroblast growth factor 2; epidermal growth factor; differentiation

Cell therapy for neurological disorders has advanced, and neural precursor cells (NPC) may become the ideal candidates for neural transplantation in a wide range of diseases. However, additional work has to be done to determine either the ideal culture environment for NPC expansion in vitro, without altering their plasticity, or the FGF-2 and EGF mechanisms of cell signaling in neurospheres growth, survival and differentiation. In this work we evaluated mouse neurospheres cultured with and without FGF-2 and EGF containing medium and showed that those growth factors are responsible for NPC proliferation. It is also demonstrated that endogenous production of growth factors shifts from FGF-2 to IGF-1/PDGFb upon EGF and FGF-2 withdrawal. Mouse NPC cultured in suspension showed different patterns of neuronal localization (core versus shell) for both EGF and FGF-2 withdrawal and control groups. Taken together, these results show that EGF and FGF-2 removal play an important role in NPC differentiation and may contribute to a better understanding of mechanisms of NPC differentiation. Our findings suggest that depriving NPC of growth factors prior to grafting might enhance their chance to effectively integrate into the host.