Figure 7.

Upon stimulation with R-Spondin 2 (RSPO2), short-term cultured embryonic kidney cells give rise to neuron-like cells expressing NF200 within the LN. (A): Picture of an LN section with the presence of GFP⁺ (green) donor cells 3 weeks after RSPO2-treated embryonic kidney cell injection; nuclei were counterstained using Hoechst (blue) (upper panels). Enlarged view of the boxed region is shown upon Pdpl staining (red, left lower panel). A serial section was used for WT1 staining (red, right lower panel). (B): Picture of an LN section as in (A) stained for NF200 (red), with the presence of GFP⁺ (green) donor cells; nuclei were counterstained using Hoechst (blue). (C): Floating embryonic kidney cell aggregates growing on feeder layers after treatment with RSPO2 (upper left panel). Immunocytochemical staining of floating aggregates for CD133, Nestin, Sox2, and Oct-4 (red); nuclei were counterstained using Hoechst (blue) (upper right panels). The lower panels show neural-like morphology of embryonic kidney-derived adherent cells. (D): Schematic diagram illustrating potential applications of the LN. Abbreviations: GFP, green fluorescent protein; NF200, 200-kDa neurofilament heavy; Oct-4, octamer-4; Pdpl, Podoplanin; sb, scale bar; Sox2, sex-determining region Y-box 2; WT1, Wilms’ tumor.