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CD133 RNA expression marks a rare and widely distributed cell population in the adult mouse brain
Author(s) -
Olausson Karl Holmberg,
Learner Emily,
Ligon Keith Lloyd
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.59.2
Subject(s) - progenitor cell , biology , olig2 , population , stem cell , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroepithelial cell , stem cell marker , adult stem cell , embryonic stem cell , progenitor , neural stem cell , pathology , immunology , central nervous system , neuroscience , oligodendrocyte , genetics , gene , medicine , myelin , environmental health
The transmembrane glycoprotein, CD133, has been used as a marker for isolation of stem/progenitor cells from normal tissues and human tumors, including the central nervous system. However, in vivo studies of the normal CNS cell types that express CD133 protein have yielded controversial results, potentially due to limitations inherent to protein analysis by immunohistochemistry. As an alternative, we have used RNA in situ hybridization to examine CD133 expression during embryonic and postnatal mouse development. During early development, CD133+ cells are abundant within the dorsal neocortical ventricular zone. In contrast, adult CD133+ cells are a rare, but widely distributed, population of cells found throughout all regions of the adult CNS. Adult CD133+ cells are more frequently seen within compact white matter tracts but are rarely found in stem/progenitor cell niches (SVZ, SGZ) of the adult brain. Co‐localization of CD133 RNA with well‐characterized CNS progenitor and lineage markers shows that normal CD133+ cells express the progenitor cell marker Olig2, an association previously reported in human glioma stem cells. In summary, these findings suggest that CD133 may mark a unique population of distributed CNS progenitor cells whose normal in vivo potential remains to be elucidated.