Figure 2. CD133 and CD15 expression varies in human NS cells but is not linked to stem cell potency.

Human NS cells were flow sorted into four populations using the gates illustrated in (A) and then cultured in NS cell expansion conditions. One week later, each sorted cell population exhibited heterogeneous CD133 and CD15 expression (B). Four weeks later, all four cell populations displayed near-indistinguishable CD133 and CD15 distributions (B). Clonal cultures could also be derived from all four purified cell populations after cell sorting. The cloned cells retained tripotent, being able to generate neurons (Tuj1+) (C), astrocytes (high level GFAP with flattened morphology) (D), and oligodendrocytes (O4+) (E).