Abstract
Neural Progenitor Cells (NPCs) have gathered more and more attention in the field of Neural Stem Cells (NSCs). However, the multilineage differentiating behavior of these cells and their contribution to tissue regeneration, almost in lower vertebrate taxa, remain unknown. Since the early 1970s, many comparative studies have been performed using immunocytochemical screening on the brains of several vertebrate taxa, including teleosts, in order to identify these cells, even if the data are sometimes contrasting. This study aims: (1) to investigate in vitro the potential proliferative role of NPCs and Radial Glia Progenitors (RGP) in seabream neurogenesis; (2) to reveal the strict ability of fish NSCs to undertake the multilineage development and differentiation in neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. By the use of double Immunofluorescence (IF) analysis and phase contrast microscopy, we identified the multilineage differentiation and the exact cell morphology. We demonstrated that NSC can self-renew and differentiate into different types of neurons or glial cells during extended culturing. Mature neurons expressed specific neuronal markers; they could differentiate during long term culturing, generating an extensive neurite growth. Glia was found highly mitotic and could developed mature astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Glial cells were assessed by Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) reactivity; neurons and myelinating oligodendrocytes were immunostained with cell-specific markers. This work provide that the multilineage differentiation potential of seabream neural cell progenitors might be a useful tool for neurodegenerative diseases, being a promising approach for repairing the CNS injuries, also in other animals, as a new coming strategy for function recovery of damaged nerves.
Highlights
The generation of new neurons in the adult Central Nervous System (CNS), so called adult neurogenesis, is a fundamental feature of the vertebrate brain during the post-embryonic neural growth [1]
Studies on Neural Stem Cells (NSCs) defined these cells as self-renewing CNS cells that can differentiate into any of the three major neural cell lineages, neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes [16,17]
To study the potential role of Neural Progenitor Cells (NPCs) and Radial Glia Progenitors (RGP) in fish neurogenesis, the neuroglial primary culture of the fish S. aurata has been used by our laboratory as a teleost CNS model system
Summary
The generation of new neurons in the adult Central Nervous System (CNS), so called adult neurogenesis, is a fundamental feature of the vertebrate brain during the post-embryonic neural growth [1]. Endogenous Neural Progenitor Cells (NPCs), almost generated along the Sub Ventricular Zone (SVZ) in the adult brain, have been proposed as a potential source of newborn neurons for the neural tissue repair after various brain insults, such as ischemic stroke or traumatic brain injury [10,11]. To birds and mammals, low non-mammalian vertebrates, as fish, amphibians and reptiles, display a considerable amount of adult neurogenesis in more numerous brain regions, even though such differences are poorly understood and investigated [11]. Comparative studies in zebra fish and mammals show that the telencephalic Ventricular Zone (VZ) in the adult zebra fish brain generates NPCs that share characteristics with the NPCs in the mammalian SVZ: they migrate tangentially and differentiate into mature neurons into the Olfactory Bulb (OB) [5,1115]. Prodigious regenerative processes were found in the injured zebra fish telencephalon, with the proliferation of endogenous NPCs, their lateral migration and neuronal differentiation at the injury site [11]
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