Isolation, Culture and Differentiation of Adult Hippocampal Precursor Cells

There are two neurogenic niches in the adult mammalian brain: the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle and the subgranular zone of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Cells from these areas can be isolated and maintained in vitro, using two different culture systems to assess their potential regarding proliferation and differentiation in a reductionist model. While the neurosphere assay is primarily performed to directly study the proliferative and differentiation potential of cells in individual brains, the monolayer culture allows single cell analysis in a rather homogeneous cell population. Here, we describe the isolation, culturing methods and differentiation of neural precursor cells in both systems.