Generation of Neurons from a Nonneuronal Precursor in Adult Olfactory Epithelium in Vitro

ABSTRACT: Within the olfactory epithelium is a stem cell which can divide and differentiate to produce new sensory neurons. The identity of the neuronal stem cell is unknown but one candidate is the horizontal basal cell which lies adjacent to the basement membrane and expresses keratin. Previous attempts to generate mature sensory neurons from purified horizontal basal cells in vitro were unsuccessful. We show here for the first time that olfactory neurogenesis can be reproduced in vitro from partially‐purified cultures of adult rat precursor cells cultivated in a serum‐free medium. Rat olfactory epithelium was dissected from the nasal septum and separated from the underlying lamina propria, and its cells were dissociated and grown in a medium containing epidermal growth factor for 5 days. Immunochemistry showed that only supporting cells (SUS1‐positive) and horizontal basal cells (keratin‐positive) survived for this period. At day 6, the cells were stressed either by passaging them or by a simple mechanical stress. In each case, a morphological and immunological differentiation was observed within 24‐48 hr. Newly formed bipolar cells were found to be S100−, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP−), neural cell adhesion molecule (N‐CAM+), and/or microtubule‐associated protein 5 (MAP‐5+). After passaging 14% of the surviving cells were immature neurons (MAP‐5+) and 4% were mature olfactory neurons (MAP‐5+) and olfactory marker protein (OMP+)). In addition the same experiment was conducted on transgenic mice in which the lacZ gene was linked to the OMP promoter. Using 5‐bromo‐4‐chloro‐3‐indolyl‐β‐D‐galactopyranoside (X‐Gal) staining we showed that OMP+ cells disappeared before day 5 in culture but reappeared after passaging. These results suggest that olfactory sensory neurons can arise from a nonneuronal precursor, probably the keratin‐positive horizontal basal cell.