Transcriptomic analysis of human neural progenitor cells differentiation into astrocytes

In this study we isolated and cultured neural progenitor cells (NPCs) from human fetal brain collected during the gliogenic phase (second trimester) of aborted fetuses, we differentiated NPCs into astrocyte using different protocols (FBS or CNTF/BMP4) and utilized RNA sequencing to analyze transcriptomic changes underlying the differentiation process Overall design: Neural progenitor cells (NPCs) isolated from 4 different donors (91, 103, 110 and 114 days embryos) were differentiated for 1 week using 2.5% FBS, while 3 NPCs lines (two from 103 and one from 110 days embryo) were differentiated for 1 week in the presence of CNTF/BMP4. RNA was extracted from NPCs before and after differentiation and submitted for sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform