Figure 2.

Survival and differentiation of intravitreally grafted neural stem cells. Grafted eGFP- or Venus-positive cells (a,d,g,j) were attached to the posterior surface of the lenses, where they survived for 8 months after transplantation. All NS cell lines were preferentially differentiated into GFAP-positive astrocytes (b,e,h,k). A few CNTF- (i) and a significant fraction of GDNF/CNTF-NS cells (l) were additionally differentiated into β-tubulin III-positive nerve cells. Neuronal differentiation of control-NS (c) or GDNF-NS cells (f) was not observed. Note the numerous β-tubulin III-positive neurites in animals with co-grafted GDNF- and CNTF-NS cells. β-TUB III: β-tubulin III; GFAP: glial fibrillary acidic protein. Scale bar: 100 µm.