FIG. 2.

Proliferative response of cortical Nestin-positive cells to extracts and the role of FGF2. (A) Proliferation in response to various concentrations of extract (E0) and CM from MSC. (B) Effect of FGF2 neutralization on cell proliferation stimulated by SB623-derived E0 at either 15% or 5% (equivalent to 0.2 and 0.07 ng/mL FGF2, respectively). *P<0.05; **P<0.01. Neutralizing anti-FGF2 (clone bFM1) or isotype control (mouse IgG1) were added at 2 μg/mL. (C, D) Immunostaining of rat cortical cells stimulated or not with 20% SB623-derived extract. After 7 days, cells cultures were labeled with 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BRDU) and stained for either BRDU and Doublecortin (Dcx) (C) or for BRDU and Nestin (Nes) (D). We concluded that cells predominantly labeled with BRDU and increased in numbers in extract-treated cultures were nestin-positive cells.