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TISSUE-SPECIFIC STEM CELLS

Enumeration of Neural Stem and Progenitor Cells in the Neural Colony-Forming Cell Assay

^aStemCell Technologies Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada;
^bQueensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;
^cTerry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Key Words. Neural stem cell • Neural differentiation • Stem/progenitor cell • Stem cells • Tissue-specific stem cells • Cell culture • Clonal assays • Colony formation

Correspondence: Brent A. Reynolds, Ph.D., Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Telephone: 61-7-3346-6300; Fax: 61-7-3346-6351; e-mail: b.reynolds{at}uq.edu.au; or Sharon A. Louis, Ph.D., StemCell Technologies Inc., 570 West 7th Avenue Suite 400, Vancouver V5Z 1B3, British Columbia, Canada. Telephone: 604-668-0849; Fax: 606-876-8440; e-mail: sharon{at}stemcell.com

Received October 30, 2007; accepted for publication January 12, 2008.
First published online in STEM CELLS EXPRESS   January 24, 2008.



Advancement in our understanding of the biology of adult stem cells and their therapeutic potential relies heavily on meaningful functional assays that can identify and measure stem cell activity in vivo and in vitro. In the mammalian nervous system, neural stem cells (NSCs) are often studied using a culture system referred to as the neurosphere assay. We previously challenged a central tenet of this assay, that all neurospheres are derived from a NSC, and provided evidence that it overestimates NSC frequency, rendering it inappropriate for quantitation of NSC frequency in relation to NSC regulation. Here we report the development and validation of the neural colony-forming cell assay (NCFCA), which discriminates stem from progenitor cells on the basis of their proliferative potential. We anticipate that the NCFCA will provide additional clarity in discerning the regulation of NSCs, thereby facilitating further advances in the promising application of NSCs for therapeutic use.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.

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