Basic studies on neural stem cells in the brain

Abstract

Neural stem cells self-renew and differentiate into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. In the developing brain, they proliferate, migrate and differentiate into neurons and glial cells, which form trillions of connections in the adult brain. Different from the developing nervous system where neural stem cells are widely distributed, in the adult brain the occurrence of NSC is restricted to the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. NSC, residing in so-called stem cell niches, promote neurogenesis throughout life for maintaining plasticity of the brain. They can also be induced to proliferate and migrate to brain injury sites upon extrinsic signals such as growth factors and other signaling cues. In this book chapter we will explain the principles of neural stem cell isolation, their culture as well as proliferation and differentiation regulation, studied in vitro and in vivo.