Neuronal stem cells (NSCs)
Neuronal
stem cells / Neural stem cells (NSCs) are the stem cells of the nervous
system. In early development, a small number of neural stem cells generates the central nervous system. NSCs are undifferentiated, multipotent
cells: they are capable of mitotic division in order to generate new neurons
(neurogenesis). They produce progeny cells (“neural progenitor cells”) which
terminally differentiate into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Until
recently, it was believed that NSCs vanish after the early stages of human
development, rendering the mammalian central nervous system incapable of regeneration. However, a
small amount of NSCs persists in the adult brain. These NSCs are reportedly located
in the subgranular zone of the hippocampus and the subventricular zone of the
striatum. This finding gave rise to research investigating the usage of NSC for
treatment of CNS diseases and injuries.
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 References:
Casarosa, S., Bozzi, Y., &
Conti, L. (2014). Neural stem cells: ready for therapeutic applications? Molecular
and Cellular Therapies, 2(31).
https://doi.org/10.1186/2052-8426-2-31
Kriegstein, A.,
& Alvarez-Buylla, A. (2009). The glial nature of embryonic
and adult neural stem cells. In Annual Review of Neuroscience 32,
149–184. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.neuro.051508.135600
Swayne L,
Sanchez-Arias J, Agbay A and Willerth S (2016) What Are Neural Stem Cells, and
Why Are They Important? Frontiers for Young Minds. 4:20. doi:
10.3389/frym.2016.00020
Zhao, X., & Moore, D. L.
(2018). Neural stem cells: developmental mechanisms and disease modeling. Cell
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