Fig. 1

Ependymal cells lining the spinal cord central canal display neural stem cells properties in vitro. a Representative confocal image of a primary neurosphere raised from Nestin ^floxGFP^flox-TK mice. Nestin⁺ (GFP) cells are embedded inside the sphere. b Growth curves of NSCs derived from the SC of WT (black dots) and of Nestin ^floxGFP^flox-TK (white dots) mice. SVZ-derived neurospheres cultures were raised from WT mice and used as control (white square), n = 3 for each group. c Flow cytometry analysis of GFP⁺ cells labeled for SOX-2, CD44, VLA4, and CXCR4. Cells were obtained from in P2-dissociated neurospheres of SC of Nestin ^floxGFP^flox-TK mice. The GFP gate was established using cultures from WT SCs (n = 3). d–g Representative confocal images showing SC-NSCs from Nestin^floxGFP^flox-TK mice plated on Petri dishes in the absence of growth factors and labeled for GFAP (d), TuJ1 (e), and APC (f). Percentages are calculated on the total number of nuclei (DAPI) and quantifications are shown in panel (g). Data are collected from one representative experiment that has been replicated two times. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey multiple comparisons post-test has been used to analyze data of panel g. ** p = 0.0052, ***p < 0.001. Scale bar 30 μm