SOX2 expression is linked to the undifferentiated state of stem cells in mammalian neurogenic niches. While its expression has been reported in the adult human subventricular zone (SVZ), to date it has not been detected in adult human white matter. Here we describe a population of SOX2+ cells from the white matter of the adult human temporal lobe, which proliferate and express glial markers in vitro

Angel Ayuso-Sacido

Antonio Gutierrez-Martin

Carmen Escobedo-Lucea

Jorge Oliver-De la Cruz

Jose Manuel Garcia-Verdugo

Josefa Carrion-Navarro

English

Nature Precedings

IDENTIFICATION OF MITOTICALLY COMPETENT SOX2+ CELLS IN WHITE 
MATTER OF NORMAL HUMAN ADULT BRAIN  
Oliver-De La Cruz J1, Carrión-Navarro J1, Gutiérrez-Martín A2, Escobedo-Lucea C3, García-
Verdugo JM1,3 and Ayuso-Sacido A1 
 
1 Regenerative Medicine Area. Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe and RETICS-
CIBERNED. 46012 Valencia, Spain. 
2.  Department of Neurosurgery. Hospital Universitario la Fe, Valencia, Spain. 
3 Cell Morphology Department, Instituto Cavanilles. Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, 
Spain. 
 
Corresponding authors 
Angel Ayuso-Sacido, PhD 
Regenerative Medicine Area 
Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe 
AVDA Autopista del Saler  16 
46012, Valencia (Spain) 
Tf: +34 963289680 
e-mail: aayuso@cipf.es 
 
Jose Manuel García-Verdugo, PhD 
Department of Cell Morphology 
Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe 
AVDA Autopista del Saler, 16 
46012, Valencia (Spain) 
Tf: +34 963289680 
e-mail: aayuso@cipf.es 
 
 
 
 
SOX2 expression is linked to the undifferentiated state of stem cells in 
mammalian neurogenic niches. While its expression has been reported in the 
adult human subventricular zone (SVZ), to date it has not been detected in 
adult human white matter. Here we describe a population of SOX2+ cells from 
the white matter of the adult human temporal lobe, which proliferate and 
express glial markers in vitro.  
The transcription factor SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2, also known as 
SOX2, is a member of the HMG-box superfamily of DNA-binding proteins. These 
genes play critical roles in self-renewal and cell fate decisions during early 
embryogenesis1, fetal development, and neuroectoderm formation2. SOX2 function 
is also necessary for maintenance of the undifferentiated state of stem cells in adult 
mammalian neurogenic niches3, 4. Although SOX2 is reportedly expressed in the 
human SVZ5, it has not been detected in normal adult white matter, a potential 
source of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells6, 7. White matter samples can be 
obtained from patients undergoing temporal lobe resection for drug-resistant 
partial epilepsy; when they are acquired at a suitable distance from the epileptic 
focus and without deterioration due to illness, they are considered the best source 
of normal samples obtained from living patients6. In these experiments, we 
focused on the isolation and identification of glial progenitor cells from adult 
human brain parenchyma, explored their potential in vitro, and identified their 
location in the original tissue. 
Human temporal lobe samples were obtained from patients with intractable 
epilepsy (age, 17-58 years) who consented to tissue use under protocols approved 
by Neurosurgery Department, Hospital La Fe (Valencia, Spain).  
In our initial experiments, cell isolation was accomplished using a protocol 
described previously6, 8. We established 4 adherent primary cultures (Fig. 1a) from 
14 samples (success rate ∼30%), which could be propagated as a monolayer 
culture for a minimum of 7 passages. We observed a diminishing proliferation rate 
and changes in initial bipolar cell morphology through subsequent passages. 
To improve the efficiency of the isolation protocol, a final washing step was 
included as described in Johansonn et al (1999)9. Briefly, dissociated cells were 
resuspended in 0.9 M sucrose in 0.5× Hank's balanced salt solution (HBSS) without 
Ca2+ and Mg2+, and centrifuged at 750 g for 10 min to remove myelin and cell 
debris. Using this method, we derived primary cultures from all samples processed 
(6 of 6). These cultures grew as floating or slightly adherent neurospheres instead 
of adherent cultures (Fig. 1b). We obtained tertiary neurospheres (at least) from 
all cultures, confirming self-renewing capacity, although both their number and 
size decreased with increasing passage number. In addition, these neurospheres 
generated an adherent culture in each passage that could be propagated separately 
through at least 5 passages (figure 1c-d). 
We selected 3 cell lines from each type of culture for molecular characterization by 
PCR with a battery of primers designed for the detection of neural stem cells and 
differentiation markers (see Supplementary Table 1). The analysis revealed 
distinct expression patterns of stem cell markers (Fig. 1e) among the 3 cell types, 
whereas expression was equivalent within each set of lines (Supplementary Fig. 1). 
While both types of adherent culture showed a very similar profile, neurospheres 
differed from adherent lines in the absence of ABCG2, MSI1, and PAX6, the presence 
of CD133 and, notably, higher expression of SOX2. 
This SOX2 enrichment in neurospheres was confirmed by qRT-PCR analysis. SOX2 
expression levels were more than 1000-fold higher in neurospheres than in the 
original adherent cultures, and about 100-fold higher than in the adherent lines 
derived from the neurosphere cultures (Fig. 1f).  
SOX2 protein was detected by immunocytochemistry only in neurospheres (Fig. 
1h–k, Supplementary Fig. 2), in which SOX2+ cells comprised 80.57% ± 17.20% of 
the total cell number. Interestingly, SOX2+ cells are already present in initial 
passages, although in lower numbers (43.69 ± 8.92%). Co-immunostaining with 
Ki67 revealed that all Ki67+ cells in neurospheres were SOX2+. 
The molecular analysis also demonstrated that the enrichment of SOX2+ cells was 
coincident with changes in glial gene expression (Fig. 1f). In addition to NG2 and 
PDGFRA, which were also detected in the original adherent cultures, neurospheres 
expressed a higher number of both earlier and later oligodendrocyte 
differentiation markers. These included the transcription factors OLIG1 and OLIG2, 
and MAG, PLP, and MBP, all encoding myelin proteins. The expression of A2B5 and 
O4, earlier oligodendrocyte markers, was also confirmed by immunocytochemistry 
(Supplementary Fig. 3) in neurospheres, but was undetectable in the adherent 
lines. 
The discovery of this SOX2+ population of white-matter derived cells led us to 
examine its source in 4 samples of adult human temporal lobe white matter. 
Tissues were fixed for 48 h in 4% paraformaldehyde, and 12-μm sections were cut 
on a cryostat. Samples showed no evidence of pathology (Supplementary Fig. 4). 
Sections of human glioblastoma expressing high levels of SOX2 served as positive 
controls (Supplementary Fig. 5) 
Immunohistochemical studies detected SOX2+ cells in all samples analyzed at a 
very similar number, constituting less than 2% of the total cells. Such cells were 
scattered throughout the white matter, sometimes concentrated in small areas. No 
proliferating SOX2+ cells were detected using Ki67 co-immunostaining (data not 
shown). 
We performed co-immunostaining with neuronal and glial markers to determine 
the SOX2+ cell phenotype. We observed no co-staining with Iba-1 (Fig. 2 a–d), 
CNPase (Fig. 2e–h), or NeuN, (Fig. 2i–l), suggesting that the SOX2+ cell 
subpopulation does not correspond to a differentiated microglial, oligodendroglial, 
or neuronal population. However, GFAP immunohistochemistry revealed co-
immunolocalization with SOX2+ in a small population of cells. Although it is 
difficult to estimate SOX2+/GFAP+ cell frequency due to intense GFAP 
immunoreactivity in the white matter, both GFAP+ (Fig. 2m–p) and GFAP- (Fig. 2q–
t) cells were identified in all samples. The SOX2 staining pattern clearly differs 
from that seen in animal models, in which all astrocytes throughout the 
parenchyma express Sox24. This contrast, along with other differences such as 
unique SVZ functional organization, could explain lower glial tissue regeneration 
observed in the adult human brain7, 10. 
We have obtained an enriched SOX2+ cell population in vitro after adding a 
washing step with sucrose to the isolation protocol. Similar results using a Percoll 
density gradient purification step were obtained using adult rat SVZ-derived 
neural progenitor cells11. Alternatively, recently described approaches for SOX2+ 
cell enrichment from fetal tissue using adenoviral transduction12 could be used for 
direct isolation of SOX2+ cells from adult human white matter. 
Moreover, our findings provide the first evidence that SOX2+ cells exist not only in 
neurogenic niches or neoplastic tissues13, but also in normal adult white matter. 
We saw no co-immunolocalization with neuronal or oligodendroglial markers, and 
only a small fraction of SOX2+/GFAP+ cells was detected. Thus, as it occurs in the 
SVZ where SOX2 is known to be expressed in glial progenitors5, we hypothesize 
that these SOX2+ cells are also a quiescent or “sleeping” glial progenitor cell cohort 
that could be activated after brain injury in an attempt to repair damage.  This idea 
is also supported by in vitro results, where the detection of SOX2, the absence of 
neuronal compromised cell markers like PAX65, and the enhanced expression of 
oligodendrocyte and astrocyte markers, reveal an enrichment of glial progenitor 
cells in our cultures. These white-matter derived cultures provide an in vitro model 
for further characterization of their proliferative signals and differentiation 
potential, and can facilitate attempts to modulate their activity in vivo. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1. Avilion, A.A. et al. Genes Dev 17, 126-140 (2003). 
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5. Baer, K., Eriksson, P.S., Faull, R.L., Rees, M.I. & Curtis, M.A. Exp Neurol 204, 828-831 
(2007). 
6. Scolding, N.J., Rayner, P.J., Sussman, J., Shaw, C. & Compston, D.A. Neuroreport 6, 441-445 
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8. Ayuso-Sacido, A., Roy, N.S., Schwartz, T.H., Greenfield, J.P. & Boockvar, J.A. Neurosurgery 
62, 223-229; discussion 229-231 (2008). 
9. Johansson, C.B. et al. Cell 96, 25-34 (1999). 
10. Patrikios, P. et al. Brain 129, 3165-3172 (2006). 
11. Chen, K., Hughes, S.M. & Connor, B. Cell Transplant 16, 799-810 (2007). 
12. Wang, S. et al. J Neurosci 30, 14635-14648 (2010). 
13. Phi, J.H. et al. Am J Surg Pathol 32, 103-112 (2008). 
 
FIGURE LEGENDS 
Figure 1: Progenitor cells can be isolated from adult human white matter. 
Original protocol gives rise to monolayer culture (A), whereas the modified 
protocol produced neurospheres (B) which generate an adherent culture (C) 
that could be passaged separately (D). Scale bars represent 10 um. E-F: 
molecular characterization by PCR of stem cell and neural lineage markers was 
performed for the three types of cell lines. Primers, band size and positive 
controls can be consulted at supplementary figure 1. PCR from all samples 
considered can be consulted at supplementary figure 2. G. qPCR revealed that 
neurospheres (NP) express SOX2 more than 1000-fold than cells from original 
protocol (ADH) (*P-value=0,0068< α=0,05 ) and about 100-fold more than 
adherent culture derived from them (ADH NP) (**P-value:0,0091<α=0,05 ). 
Statistical analysis was performed with Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Mann-
Whitney comparisons with post hoc bonferroni correction. Data represents 
mean ± s.e. H-K Immunohistochemistry for SOX2 and KI67. SOX2 protein 
could only be detected in neurospheres. All Ki67+ cells co-stain with SOX2. 
Scale bar 20um. Immunostaining for the rest of cell types can be consulted at 
supplementary figure 3.  
Figure 2: Immunohistochemical characterization of SOX2+ cells from adult 
temporal lobe white matter. No co-immunolocalization was detected for Iba-1(a-
d), CNPase (e-h) or NeuN (i-l). Some SOX2+ cells were GFAP + cells (m-p) but 
not all of them (q-t). Arrows indicate SOX2+ cells. Scale bar represents 20 um. 
Immunostaining for glioblastoma sections used as positive controls are 
collected in Supplementary figure 5.  




Identification Of Mitotically Competent SOX2+ Cells In White Matter Of Normal  Human Adult Brain

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Identification Of Mitotically Competent SOX2+ Cells In White Matter Of Normal Human Adult Brain

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