Voltage-dependent ionic channels in differentiating neural precursor cells collected from adult mouse brains six hours post-mortem

A novel type of adult neural precursor cells (NPCs) has been isolated from the subventricular zone of the mouse 6 hr after animal death (T6-NPCs). This condition is supposed to select hypoxia-resistant cells of scientific and clinical interest. Ionic channels are ultimately the expression of the functional maturation of neurons, so the aim of this research was to characterize the pattern of the main voltage-dependent ionic channels in T6-NPCs differentiating to a neuronal phenotype, comparing it with NPCs isolated soon after death (T0-NPCs). T6- and T0-NPCs grow in medium containing epidermal growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). Differentiation was performed in small wells without the addition of growth factors, in the presence of adhesion molecules, fetal bovine serum, and leukemia inhibitory factor. Ionic currents, recorded by means of whole-cell patch-clamp, namely, I(Ca2+) HVA, both L- and non-L-type, I(K+) delayed rectifying, I(K+) inward rectifier, transient I(K+A) , and TTX-sensitive I(Na+) have been found, although Na(+) currents were found in only a small percentage of cells and after the fifth week of differentiation. No significant differences in current types, density, orcell capacitance were observed between T6-NPCs and T0-NPCs. The sequence in which the markers appear in new neural cells is not necessarily a fixed program, but the discrepancies in morphological, biochemical, and electrophysiological maturation of mouse NPCs to neurons, possibly different in vivo, suggest that the various steps of the differentiation are independently regulated. Therefore, in addition to morphological and biochemical data, functional tests should be considered for characterizing the maturation of neurons. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.