Figure 2From: Laminin enhances the growth of human neural stem cells in defined culture mediaLaminin increases human primary neurosphere formation. (A) Cells dissociated from human neurospheres and plated in medium alone or medium containing 10 μg/ml laminin (Medium+Laminin). After 21 days, significantly more primary neurospheres had formed in the presence of laminin. (B) The neurospheres from (A) were dissociated and re-plated in medium alone. Note that no laminin was added to the culture medium in (B). No difference in secondary neurosphere numbers was observed. *p < 0.05, as determined by Student's t-test; n = 2. (C) Dissociated neurosphere cells were grown for 24 h in the absence (medium) or presence (Ln) of laminin, in addition to either an isotype control (Iso. Cont.) or integrin β1-blocking antibody (β1 block), before being analysed for annexin-V expression by flow cytometry. The number of annexin-V+ cells, relative to medium alone, is shown. Annexin V-binding was significantly reduced in the presence of laminin compared to medium alone, indicating an increase in cell survival. The addition of an integrin β1-blocking antibody returned the number of annexin V+ cells to control levels, indicating that laminin acts through integrin β1. Statistics were determined by a one-way ANOVA with Tukey post-test. n = 5 for medium and laminin, n = 3 for all other conditions. **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05.Back to article page