Isolation, Expansion, and Differentiation of Mouse Skin-Derived Precursors

The isolation and experimental manipulation of multipotent precursors is of increasing therapeutic relevance. We recently reported the generation of cultures of Skin-derived Precursors (‘SKPs’), multipotent cells that can be isolated from the dermis of embryonic, neonatal, and adult rodent skin (1) , and from adult human skin (2) SKPs have similarities to stem cells of the embryonic neural crest (3) , and differentiate into a variety of neural and mesodermal cell phenotypes, including peripheral neurons and glial cells, smooth muscle cells, bone, cartilage, and adipocytes (3 –5) . Here, we detail the establishment, propagation, neural differentiation, and immunocytochemical analysis of SKP cultures.