Neural precursor cells have been previously isolated from the developing @entity1 nervous system and their properties studied both in vitro and in transplantation paradigms in vivo. However, their ability to differentiate into neurons of different neurochemical phenotypes remains poorly defined. In this study, the default in vitro neuronal differentiation of hENPs derived from five different regions of the @entity1 embryonic brain (cerebral cortex, striatum, cerebellum, ventral mesencephalon, and spinal cord) was studied after varying periods of time in culture. The results were directly compared to those from similarly prepared @entity19 ENPs. hENPs prepared from all five regions showed a significant reduction in the number of neurons generated at each passage, such that by passage 4 only between 5 and 10% of cells spontaneously adopted a neuronal phenotype after differentiation in vitro. A similar observation was obtained with @entity19 ENPs. hENPs prepared from more caudal parts of the developing neuroaxis generated fewer neurons compared to the more rostral regions. The only neuronal phenotype identified in these cultures was @entity1246 , with 15-60% of the neurons immunopositive for this neurotransmitter. Thus there appears to be important differences between hENPs dependent on region of origin and time in vitro under standard culture conditions, forming decreasing numbers of neurons with increasing time in culture and more caudal sites of harvest, and with the major identifiable neurotransmitter being @entity1246 . Such characterisation is important in the process of learning how to manipulate the neuronal phenotype of these cells.

GABAergic immunoreactivity is predominant in neurons derived from expanded XXXX neural precursor cells in vitro.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['human'] @entity19 :: ('10090', 'Species') :: ['murine'] @entity1246 :: ('MESH:D005680', 'Chemical') :: ['GABA']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['human']
