Abstract: Objective To establish a technical method to isolate and culture human olfactory mucosa cells EM>in vitro/EM>, and to study the immunological characteristics of olfactory ensheathing cells(OECs). Methods In this study, seven adult olfactory mucosae were obtained from nasal cavity surgery.Cells were acquired by dissection of olfactory mucosa and purified according to the different attachment time among the various cell types. The cells were observed for morphological characteristics under inverted microscope and identified using immunofluorescence staining with p75,S100 and glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP). The characteristics of olfactory ensheathing cells was observed under confocal microscope. Results S100 and p75 positive cells were more common in the olfactory mucosa cells under confocal microscope, GFAP positive cells were relatively rare. In general, S100 and p75 were co-expressed in the same cells, but not the GFAP and S100, p75 expressions. The p75 positive cells presented two completely different morphology. The percentage of S100 and p75 double labeled cells was (35.0±8.3)% under confocal microscope. Conclusion The olfactory ensheathing cells can be isolated from human olfactory mucosa,they are accessible sources for autologous grafting to repair nervous sys

Key words: Olfactory mucosa, Olfactory ensheathing cells, Cell culture, p75, S100, Immunofluorescence, Cell transplantation, Human