3.3. Fewer undifferentiated ON cells were obtained from cannabis users
Under proliferative conditions, the markers CD105+, Nestin+, GFAP+, β-III-Tubulin+ and GAP43+ were detected in ON cells derived from control subjects 24 h post seeding (Fig. 2), reflecting the presence of mesenchymal cells (CD105), undifferentiated neural progenitors (Nestin), glial-like cells (GFAP) and immature neurons (β-III-Tubulin and GAP43), as described previously (Feron et al., 2005; Delorme et al., 2010; Borgmann-Winter et al., 2015). A high proportion of cells (60-80%) were Nestin+ and/or β-III-Tubulin+, indicating their neural lineage (Fig. 2D-F, J-L) (Benitez-King et al., 2011), yet no cells were positive for the multipotent stem cell marker, Sox2 (data not shown). Among the ON cells from cannabis users there was a significant decrease in the number of cells expressing the CD105 and GFAP markers (t = 2.887, p = 0.0203 and t = 3.584, p = 0.0071 respectively, Fig. 2C, I), and an increase in the Nestin+ cells (t = 2.318, p = 0.0491, Fig. 2F). No changes were observed in the percentage of β-III-Tubulin or GAP43+ cells (t = 0.1724, p = 0.8674 and t = 0.3198, p = 0.7573 respectively, Fig. 2L, O).