Fig. 2

Generation and characterization of induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) derived from adult rat astrocytes. a Phase-contrast images of astrocytes before induction and at 2 weeks post-transduction (WPT), induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) at passage 5 (P5). b qRT-PCR analysis of exogen Zfp521 shows decreasing expression levels with subsequent passages. c qRT-PCR analysis of astrocytes (AST) and NSC markers at P5. Data were normalized against GAPDH and presented relative to the expression of each indicated gene in astrocytes. d Immunofluorescent staining of iNSC at P5. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI. e Quantification of protein markers revealed by immunostaining in d. Data in b, c, and e are given as mean ± SD of three independent experiments. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey test as post hoc. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001. The number of counted cells is presented in Additional file 4: Table S3