Neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells as an in vitro tool for the study of the expression patterns of the neuronal cytoskeleton during neurogenesis.

The neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is a potential tool for elucidating the key mechanisms involved in human neurogenesis. Nestin and ß-III-tubulin, which are cytoskeleton proteins, are marker proteins of neural stem cells (NSCs) and neurons, respectively. However, the expression patterns of nestin and ß-III-tubulin in neural derivatives from human ESCs remain unclear. In this study, we found that neural progenitor cells (NPCs) derived from H9 cells express high levels of nestin and musashi-1. In contrast, ß-III-tubulin was weakly expressed in a few NPCs. Moreover, in these cells, nestin formed filament networks, whereas ß-III-tubulin was distributed randomly as small particles. As the differentiation proceeded, the nestin filament networks and the ß-III-tubulin particles were found in both the cell soma and the cellular processes. Moreover, the colocalization of nestin and ß-III-tubulin was found mainly in the cell processes and neurite-like structures and not in the cell soma. These results may aid our understanding of the expression patterns of nestin and ß-III-tubulin during the neural differentiation of H9 cells.