Chunk #22 — Results — Induction of neural stem cells (NSCs) from iPSCs and generation of human 2D neuronal culture and 3D neuro-spheroids (3DSs) from NSCs
iPSC lines from five AD subjects (AD1-AD5) were first induced to become neural stem cells (N1-N5, Fig 1). Neural stem cell lines (N1-5) were characterized by the expression of protein markers, Nestin and Sox2 (Fig 1), Sox1 and PAX6 (Fig 2). Nestin (green, Fig 1), a neuro-ectodermal stem cell marker, is a type VI intermediate filament protein that is expressed mostly in neural cells and is implicated in the growth of the axon [24, 25]. Sox2 (red, Fig 1) is a transcription factor that is essential for maintaining self-renewal, or pluripotency, of undifferentiated embryonic stem cells and has a critical role in maintenance of embryonic and neural stem cells [26, 27]. Sox1 and PAX6 (Fig 2) were found to be expressed in all five neural stem cultures. Sox1 is an activated neural stem/progenitor cell maker and transcription factor, and PAX6 controls the balance between neural stem cell self-renewal and neurogenesis [27–29].
