Isolation and characterization of neural stem cells from ovine foetal cerebral cortex

Neural stem cells are a potential source in cell based therapy for neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic brain injuries. The aim of this study is to isolate the ovine (Ovis aries) fetal neural stem cells and to analyze their neurogenic characteristics in vitro. Cerebral cortex pieces harvested from ovine fetal brain tissue were triturated for dispersal into single cells, cultured in neuronal stem cells culture medium and expanded in vitro in adherent culture. The morphological changes and the expression of neuron-specific gene markers and proteins were evaluated. These isolated NSCs were plastic adherent, self-renewing cells maintained the capacity to differentiate into brain specific cell types and they were found positive for neuronal stem cell markers, Nestin and beta III tubulin by Reverse Transcription-PCR Immunocytochemistry of the isolated NSCs also showed positive for Nestin, an established marker for neural and glial precursors as well as MSC marker CD90 and negative for hematopoietic CD34 markers.