Identification of neonatal rat hippocampal radial glia cells in vitro

The role of radial glia cells (RGCs) as neural progenitors and as guides for migrating neurons is well established, whereas their precise contribution to adult hippocampal neurogenesis remains less understood. To precisely study the properties of hippocampal RGCs under normal conditions in vitro, here we acquired the hippocampal RGCs of postnatal 1 d rats under adherent conditions in vitro, identified their astroglia and stem/progenitor properties. We found that the neonatal rat hippocampal RGCs had longer processes than the RGCs from fetal cerebral cortices, and these cells could be double-labeled by BLBP, GFAP, Vimentin with Nestin and expressed some stem/progenitor genes, these cells also presented multiple differentiation potentialities, albeit the ability of gliogenesis far exceeded the neurogenesis under normal culture conditions in vitro. Taken together, we acquired and identified some properties of the RGCs from neonatal rat hippocampi in vitro.