Fig. 2

In vitro cultures of rat-derived ENSCs contain a heterogenous population of dividing progenitor cells and various neuronal subtypes. a Representative FACS plot showing isolation of p75 FITC-labelled ENSCs. Following FACS, 1 week-old p75+ cultures were analysed by qRT-PCR, revealing expression of Sox10 (neural crest cell progenitor cell marker), Tuj1 (pan-neuronal marker), Gls1 (glutamine), nNos (neuronal nitric oxide), Tph1 (serotonin), ChAT (acetylcholine), Gad (GABA) and S100b (glia) (b). c–h In vitro characterisation of ENSCs prior to transplantation. p75-sorted cell cultures displayed a characteristic neuronal morphology by 1 week in culture, including extension of fine interneuronal processes (c), and formed dense neurospheres by around 2 weeks (d). A small number of dividing cells were detected by Ki67+ staining (e). However, the vast majority of cells stained positive for the pan-neuronal marker TuJ1 (f), indicating neuronal differentiation. A subpopulation of cells stained positive for specific neuronal subtype markers, including nNOS (g) and 5HT (h). Data are represented as mean ± SEM. Scale bar—c, d 200 μm, e 50 μm, and f, g, h 100 μm