Construction of an immortalized neural progenitor cell strain and analysis of its immunogenicity

Abstract

Neural progenitor cells (NPC) are those that are the source of neural cells for cell transplantation and gene therapy. The shortage in quantity and the limited life spans of primary cultured cells limit its widespread use in basic research. Immortalized NPC, which also possess the capacity of self-renewal and can proliferate infinitely, can produce a large number of NPCs with stable phenotype and genotype. Here we report that an immortalized neural progenitor cell strain, which we named as INPC, was successfully established by gene-transfer of simian virus 40 large T antigen gene mediated by liposomes. The INPC retained the biological characteristics of its original cells and provided a safe and reliable cell platform for the treatment of central nervous system diseases and transgenic cell transplantation. INPC could express low levels of MHC antigens which was down-regulated after differentiation. This indicates that INPC possesses poor immunogenicity. The immortalized cells may show good long-term survival and do not elicit an acute immunological response following transplantation.

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