Figure 1

FGF-2 regulates self-renewal of adult NSCs by promoting proliferation and inhibiting spontaneous differentiation. (A, B) Sample immunostaining images of adult NSC culture with or without treatment of exogenous FGF-2 (20 ng/ml). Nestin is a neural precursor cell marker; Ki67 is a cell proliferation marker; Tuj1 is a neuronal marker; RIP is an oligodendrocyte marker; GFAP is an astrocyte marker. Scale bar: 20 μm. (C) Quantification of the percentage of cells with characteristic markers in the presence or absence of FGF-2, or after treatment of RA (0.5 μM) and FBS (0.5%). Values represent mean ± SEM. (n = 6; *: P < 0.01, Student's t-test). (D) Multi-lineage differentiation potentials of adult NSCs after long-term culture in the presence of FGF-2. EGFP was used to label a single cell and allowed to expand in the presence of FGF-2 (20 ng/ml) and then induced to differentiate into Tuj1⁺ neurons (red) and GFAP⁺ glia (blue) with RA (0.5 μM) and FBS (0.5%) for 6 days. Scale bar: 20 μm.