Patent ID: 8030072
Filing Date: 2011-10-04
Classification: C12N

Abstract:
1. A method of producing an isolated population of primate multipotent non-embryonic epidermal neural crest stem cells from hair follicles, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing epidermal tissue with hair follicles from a primate; (b) dissecting the hair follicles by removing dermis, dermal papilla, connective tissue and fat cells to isolate the bulge region of the hair follicles, wherein the bulge region is the source of epidermal neural crest stem cells (EPI-NCSC); (c) culturing the bulge regions as adherent explants on collagen-, and fibronectin-coated culture substrates to isolate the non-embryonic epidermal neural crest stem cells; and (d) culturing the isolated EPI-NCSCs as adherent cells under conditions to produce the population of non-embryonic neural crest stem cells, wherein the cells (i) have a purity level of greater than 70% EPI-NCSCs, (ii) are capable of undergoing differentiation to give rise to neural crest cell derivatives, (iii) are highly proliferative in cell culture, (iv) are highly motile, (v) exhibit a high degree of plasticity, (vi) are stellate shape in morphology and (vii) are characterized by the positive expression of Sox-10 and Nestin.