| abstract |
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for detecting nerve stem cells/progenitor cells among a tissue or a mass of cells as constituted of a plurality of cell species, and a method for screening for a drug functioning as a nerve differentiation factor or the like by using the above-mentioned detection method. It was found in this invention that the expression of the NC1 gene was high in undifferentiated nerve stem cells and said expression decreased with an advance of differentiation. Furthermore in this invention, by using the NC1 gene, the product thereof (NC1 protein) and the base sequences or the amino acid sequences thereof, antibodies or the like, it became possible to detect nerve stem cells/progenitor cells by way of various methods, so that a novel method for screening for a drug functioning as a nerve differentiation factor or the like was provided. |