Table 3.

Combination of factors to produce enhanced populations of differentiated progeny

	To yield increased oligos	To yield increased astrocytes	To yield increased radial glia	To yield increased neurons
CNS region	Cervical or lumbar cord or brain	Cervical or lumbar cord or brain	Cervical cord	Lumbar cord
Growth factors	20 ng/ml PDGF at onset of culturing	10 ng/ml CNTF at onset of differentiation	20 ng/ml PDGF at onset of differentiation	10 ng/ml CNTF at onset of differentiation
	10 ng/ml CNTF at onset of culturing
	20 ng/ml CNTF at onset of differentiation
Time in culture	Tertiary spheres	Tertiary spheres	Sphere age not significant	Sphere age not significant
		2-week differentiation	1-week differentiation	2-week differentiation
Serum concentration and matrix	Matrigel plus 1% FBS	Matrigel plus 5% FBS	Not tested	Collagen plus 5% FBS

This table shows the manipulations that produced significant changes (p<0.05) in the percentages of differentiated progeny. See Results section for individual p values. Each field in the table represents an independent experimental result from this study. It is possible that the individual manipulations would produce an additive effect if combined. This table summarizes the combination approaches that might be successful in producing enhanced populations of differentiated progeny in future studies. This study only examined the combination of growth factors, time in culture, and serum concentration and matrix on cervical spinal cord NSPC differentiation. CNS, central nervous system; PDGF, platelet-derived growth factor; CNTF, ciliary neurotrophic factor; NSPC, neural stem/precursor cell.