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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
Isolating Nasal Olfactory Stem Cells from Rodents or Humans
Published on: August 22, 2011
[Isolation and culture of neural stem cell from rat olfactory epithelium]
Fuquan Chen1, Jianhua Qiu, Jinling Wang
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China. chenfq@fmmu.edu.cn
Objective:
To isolate and culture neural stem cell (NSC) from rat olfactory epithelium and investigate the characteristics of its proliferation and differentiation.
Method:
NSC from postnatal three-day (P3) and zinc sulfate in situ injured adult rat olfactory epithelium was cultured with DMEM/F12 (1 : 1) containing 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum. NSC and specific neural cells differentiated from NSC were identified with indirect immunofluorescence. Growth curve of NSC from P3 and adult rat and the effect of growth factors were measured using MTT method.
Result:
Neurosphere-forming cells were isolated and collected with diluted purification method from P3 and adult rat olfactory epithelium. These neurosphere-forming cells were nestin immuno-positive and cytokeratin immuno-negative, and could differentiated into neuronal specific enolase (NSE) immuno-positive neurons and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immuno-positive astrocytes when transferred in MEM. The viability of NSC had no significant difference between P3 and adult rat (P > 0.05). The forming rate of neurosphere of P3 and adult rat olfactory epithelium was 0.05% - 0.10%. Fibroblast growth factor-basic could significantly promote the proliferation of NSC from epithelium, while epidermal growth factor showed no effect on the proliferation of the NSC.
Conclusion:
NSC with self-renewal capacity and multipotential differentiation can be isolated and cultured from P3 and adult rat olfactory epithelium.
