FIGURE 1.
Neuronal and dopaminergic differentiation in long term expanded hVM1 cells; effect of Bcl-XL overexpression. A, phase-contrast photomicrographs of 7-day differentiated cells at passages 8 and 31 (or the equivalent of one and a half years in culture). Differentiated cells were stained for β-III-tubulin and TH by ICC. B and C, percentage of TH+ and β-III-tub+ cells in differentiated hVM1 cells proliferated from passage 8 to 31. Data represent mean ± S.E. (n = 3). D, schematic of the short term experiment to study Bcl-XL effects on the maintenance of the potential for TH+ neuron generation. For this purpose, hVM1 cells were infected with a retroviral vector coding for Bcl-XL (Bcl-XL-GFP) or an empty vector (Empty-GFP) at passage 6, sorted by rhGFP fluorescence, and then expanded for 12 more passages. At this time point, cells were differentiated and analyzed for TH+ cell generation. Microphotographs show TH staining. The graph represents the percentage of TH+ cells.