Isolation and culture of adult mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in vitro and characterization of self-renewal capacity

doi:10.12307/2025.028

Abstract

Abstract: BACKGROUND: We have successfully isolated and cultured neonatal mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in vitro, but there is no study that reports an effective method for isolating and culturing high-purity adult mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons. There is no study on whether the self-renewal ability of cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons changes with age.
OBJECTIVE: To establish a method for isolating and culturing high-purity adult mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in vitro, and to characterize the self-renewal ability of adult mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons and neonatal mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in vitro.
METHODS: Primary cells containing cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons were isolated from the cervical medulla of adult mouse (3 months of age) in adherent culture and transfected with lentivirus fused with multimodal imaging genes. High-purity adult mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons were obtained by puromycin screening in suspension culture in complete medium. The expression of neural stem cell markers Nestin and SOX2 was detected by immunofluorescence in adult mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons, and the ability of adult mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons to form spheres and pass on in vitro was observed. An equal number (5×103/mL) of passage 3 adult mouse and neonatal mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons were divided into two groups under the same conditions and inoculated into ultra-low adhesion plates containing complete medium in suspension culture at 5% CO2, 37°C thermostat, respectively. The self-renewal capacity of adult mouse and neonatal mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons was characterized by in vitro spheroid formation, CCK8 assay, qPCR, and western blot assay.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) High-purity cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons were successfully isolated from adult mouse, which expressed Nestin and SOX2 in vitro, and were able to form neurospheres and pass on continuously. (2) The in vitro self-renewal ability of cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in adult mouse was significantly weaker than that of neonatal mouse, and the neurospheres formed by day 4 of cell culture in neonatal mouse were about 150 μm in diameter, whereas the neurospheres formed by adult mouse tactile neurons were only 40 μm in diameter (P < 0.000 1). (3) CCK8 proliferation assay showed that the proliferative activity of adult mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons was significantly weaker than that of neonatal mouse at all time points after culture (P < 0.000 1). (4) qPCR and western blot assay revealed that the mRNA (P < 0.000 1) and protein expression levels (P < 0.01) of Nestin and SOX2 in cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons of adult mouse were significantly decreased compared with those of neonatal mouse. (5) The above results indicated that the self-renewal ability of cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in adult mouse was significantly weaker than that of neonatal mouse in vitro.

Key words: spinal cord injury, adult mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neuron, endogenous neural stem cell, self-renewal capacity, culture in vitro, cell purification, lentiviruses incorporating multimodal imaging genes, stem cell potential identification

CLC Number:

Shangguan Zeyu, , Chen Chanjuan, Li Qizhe, Tan Wei, Yan Haijian, Wang Chunqing, Dou Xiaowei, Li Qing. Isolation and culture of adult mouse cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in vitro and characterization of self-renewal capacity[J]. Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research, 2025, 29(13): 2728-2735.

Figures/Tables 4

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