Optimizing culture medium composition to improve oligodendrocyte progenitor cell yields in vitro from Subventricular Zone-Derived Neural Progenitor Cell Neurospheres

FRANCO, P.G; PASQUINI, J.M.; SILVESTROFF, L

Plos One

Public Library Science

Lugar: San Francisco; Año: 2015 vol. 10 p. 1 - 21

Neural Stem and Progenitor Cells (NSC/NPC) are gathering tangible recognition for their uses in cell therapy and cell replacement therapies for human disease, as well as a model system to continue research on overall neural developmental processes in vitro. The Subventricular Zone (SVZ) is one of the largest NSC/NPC niches in the developing mammalian CNS, and persists through to adulthood. OPC enriched cultures are usefull tools for in vitro studies as well as for cell replacement therapies for treating demyelination diseases. We used SVZ-derived NSC/NPC primary cultures from newborn mice and compared the effects of different growth factor combinations on cell proliferation and oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) yield. The Platelet Derived Growth Factor-AA and BB homodimers had a positive and significant impact on OPC generation. Furthermore, heparin addition to the culture media contributed to further increase overall culture yields. The OPC generated by this protocol were able to mature into Myelin Basic Protein (MBP)-expressing cells and to interact with neurons in an in vitro co-culture system. As a whole, we describe an optimized in vitro method for increasing OPC.