Patent ID: 7781214
Filing Date: 2010-08-24
Classification: A61K,C12N

Abstract:
1. A method for generating a culture that is purified or enriched in neural progenitor cells, comprising: (i) introducing into a pluripotent cell a selectable marker that is differentially expressed in neural progenitor cells compared with its expression in other cells, wherein neural progenitor cells constitute a sub-set of the cells obtainable from the pluripotent cell, and wherein expression of the selectable marker is under the control of a promoter of a gene that is differentially expressed in neural progenitor cells; (ii) culturing the pluripotent cell in vitro in the presence of a factor that induces differentiation of the pluripotent cell to induce differentiation of the pluripotent cell into a neural progenitor cell or into a mixture of cells including neural progenitor cells, or to induce preferential survival, in a mixed culture of cells, of neural progenitor cells; and (iii) selecting for neural progenitor cells and against pluripotent cells according to differential expression of the selectable marker introduced in step (i), the selectable marker conferring preferential survival on the neural progenitor cells relative to the pluripotent cell of step (i); thereby achieving directed differentiation of the pluripotent cell into a purified or enriched culture of neural progenitor cells.