Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Cell culture

Progenitor cells from human brain after death

Abstract

Culturing neural progenitor cells from the adult rodent brain has become routine1,2 and is also possible from human fetal tissue3,4, but expansion of these cells from postnatal and adult human tissue, although preferred for ethical reasons, has encountered problems5,6,7,8. Here we describe the isolation and successful propagation of neural progenitor cells from human postmortem tissues and surgical specimens. Although the relative therapeutic merits of adult and fetal progenitor cells still need to be assessed, our results may extend the application of these progenitor cells in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Neural progenitor cells isolated from postmortem human brain.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Palmer, T. D., Markakis, E. A., Willhoite, A. R., Safar, F. & Gage, F. H. J. Neurosci. 19, 8487–8497 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Reynolds, B. A. & Weiss, S. Science 255, 1707–1710 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Svendsen, C. N., Caldwell, M. A. & Ostenfeld, T. Brain Pathol. 9, 499–513 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Fricker, R. A. et al. J. Neurosci. 19, 5990–6005 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Pincus, D. W. et al. Ann. Neurol. 43, 576–585 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Johansson, C. B., Svensson, M., Wallstedt, L., Janson, A. M. & Frisen, J. Exp. Cell Res. 253, 733–736 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Pagano, S. F. et al. Stem Cells 18, 295–300 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Roy, N. S. et al. Nature Med. 6, 271–277 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Taupin, P. et al. Neuron 28, 385–397 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Ostenfeld, T. et al. Exp. Neurol. 164, 215–226 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fred H. Gage.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Palmer, T., Schwartz, P., Taupin, P. et al. Progenitor cells from human brain after death. Nature 411, 42–43 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35075141

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35075141

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing