Extracellular Vesicle-Induced Differentiation of Neural Stem Progenitor Cells

Neural stem progenitor cells (NSPCs) from E13.5 mouse embryos can be maintained in culture under proliferating conditions. Upon growth-factor removal, they may differentiate toward either neuronal or glial phenotypes or both. Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles that are part of the cell secretome; they may contain and deliver both proteins and genetic material and thus play a role in cell–cell communication, guide axonal growth, modulate synaptic activity and regulate peripheral nerve regeneration. In this work, we were interested in determining whether NSPCs and their progeny can produce and secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs) and if their content can affect cell differentiation. Our results indicate that cultured NSPCs produce and secrete EVs both under proliferating conditions and after differentiation. Treatment of proliferating NSPCs with EVs derived from differentiated NSPCs triggers cell differentiation in a dose-dependent manner, as demonstrated by glial- and neuronal-marker expression.