Isolation, characterization and gene modification of fetal neural stem/progenitor cells from cynomolgus monkey

Successful isolation and expansion of neural stem/progenitor cells from cynomolgus monkey (cm-NSPCs), may not only help to increase our understanding of NSPCs, but also provide an important translational tool for preclinical trials. Here we initially isolated NSPCs from aborted fetal cynomolgus monkey brain, and expanded them in adherent culture system. Then we demonstrated that cultured cm-NSPCs were almost bipolar cells proliferated in clump-like structure, expressed typical markers for NSPCs, and could differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. After transduction with lentivirus, 70-80% of cm-NSPCs expressed enhanced green fluorescent protein and the stemness was unaffected. This study provided basis for obtaining large numbers of cm-NSPCs, and efficient transduction of them with exogenous genes, which would facilitate cell-based therapies in nonhuman primate models, and might help to investigate the mechanism of central nervous system development and/or controlling neural regeneration.