Isolating Nasal Olfactory Stem Cells from Rodents or Humans

JoVE 2762 8/22/2011

Stéphane D. Girard^1,2, Arnaud Devéze³, Emmanuel Nivet^1,2,4, Bruno Gepner⁵, François S. Roman², François Féron^1,6

¹NICN, Aix Marseille University, ²LNPM, Aix Marseille University, ³ENT Department, Aix Marseille University, ⁴Gene expression Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, ⁵Laboratory of Speech and Language, Aix Marseille University, ⁶Centre d'Investigations Cliniques en Biothérapie, Aix Marseille University

We describe here a method for biopsying olfactory mucosa from rat and human nasal cavities. These biopsies can be used for either identifying molecular anomalies in brain diseases or isolating multipotent adult stem cells that can be utilized for cell transplantation in animal models of brain trauma/disease.