Nestin: Proteins and Enzymes

Nestin is a class VI intermediate filament protein that is expressed in stem cells of the central nervous system (CNS) but not in mature CNS cells. Nestin expression is used extensively as a marker for CNS stem cells in the developing nervous system and in in vitro cultured cells. Its transient expression is a critical step in the neural differentiation pathway. Nestin is also expressed in non-neural stem cell populations, such as pancreatic islet progenitors and hematopoietic progenitors.