Lineage Selection for Generation and Amplification of Neural Precursor Cells

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are derived from the epiblast of mouse blastocyst. They can repopulate all cell lineages in vivo and can differentiate into a wide variety of cell types in vitro during embryoid body (EB) formation (1 ). ES cells have been shown to generate both neurones and glial cells (2 ,3 ). During the course of ES cell differentiation, neural precursors that express nestin and/or sox1 and sox2 appear first, these are followed by βtubulin 3 and neurofilament-expressing neurons and, subsequently, glial fibrillary-acid protein (GFAP) or O4 positive glial cells (4 –8 ). These results suggest that ES cell-derived neural system can be used for experimental dissection of various aspects of mammalian neural development. If extended to humans, in vitro-generated neural cells could also be used as source for transplantation-based cell therapy.