Neural progenitors of the postnatal and adult mouse forebrain retain the ability to self-replicate, form neurospheres, and undergo multipotent differentiation in vivo.

Somatic stem cells are reservoirs to replace lost cells or damaged tissue. Cells with neural stem cell (NSC) characteristics can be isolated from the postnatal mammalian brain into adulthood and expanded as neurospheres. We addressed the ability of these in vitro expanded putative NSCs to retain progenitor characteristics in vivo, in analogy to hematopoietic stem cells.