Isolation and characterization of GFAP-positive porcine neural stem/progenitor cells derived from a GFAP-CreER ^T2 transgenic piglet

Background: The porcine brain is gyrencephalic with similar gray and white matter composition and size more comparable to the human rather than the rodent brain; however, there is lack of information about neural progenitor cells derived from this model. Results: Here, we isolated GFAP-positive porcine neural stem cells (NSCs) from the brain explant of a transgenic piglet, with expression of CreER ^T2 under the control of the GFAP promoter (pGFAP-CreER ^T2 ). The isolated pGFAP-CreER ^T2 NSCs showed self-renewal and expression of representative NSC markers such as Nestin and Sox2. Pharmacological inhibition studies revealed that Notch1 signaling is necessary to maintain NSC identity, whereas serum treatment induced cell differentiation into reactive astrocytes and neurons. Conclusions: Collectively, these results indicate that GFAP promoter-driven porcine CreER ^T2 NSCs would be a useful tool to study neurogenesis of the porcine adult central nervous system and furthers our understanding of its potential clinical application in the future.