Subventricular zone

About: Subventricular zone is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4330 publications have been published within this topic receiving 309223 citations. The topic is also known as: SVX.

Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus

Abstract: The genesis of new cells, including neurons, in the adult human brain has not yet been demonstrated. This study was undertaken to investigate whether neurogenesis occurs in the adult human brain, in regions previously identified as neurogenic in adult rodents and monkeys. Human brain tissue was obtained postmortem from patients who had been treated with the thymidine analog, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), that labels DNA during the S phase. Using immunofluorescent labeling for BrdU and for one of the neuronal markers, NeuN, calbindin or neuron specific enolase (NSE), we demonstrate that new neurons, as defined by these markers, are generated from dividing progenitor cells in the dentate gyrus of adult humans. Our results further indicate that the human hippocampus retains its ability to generate neurons throughout life.

Generation of neurons and astrocytes from isolated cells of the adult mammalian central nervous system

Abstract: Neurogenesis in the mammalian central nervous system is believed to end in the period just after birth; in the mouse striatum no new neurons are produced after the first few days after birth. In this study, cells isolated from the striatum of the adult mouse brain were induced to proliferate in vitro by epidermal growth factor. The proliferating cells initially expressed nestin, an intermediate filament found in neuroepithelial stem cells, and subsequently developed the morphology and antigenic properties of neurons and astrocytes. Newly generated cells with neuronal morphology were immunoreactive for gamma-aminobutyric acid and substance P, two neurotransmitters of the adult striatum in vivo. Thus, cells of the adult mouse striatum have the capacity to divide and differentiate into neurons and astrocytes.

Neuronal replacement from endogenous precursors in the adult brain after stroke

Abstract: In the adult brain, new neurons are continuously generated in the subventricular zone and dentate gyrus, but it is unknown whether these neurons can replace those lost following damage or disease. Here we show that stroke, caused by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion in adult rats, leads to a marked increase of cell proliferation in the subventricular zone. Stroke-generated new neurons, as well as neuroblasts probably already formed before the insult, migrate into the severely damaged area of the striatum, where they express markers of developing and mature, striatal medium-sized spiny neurons. Thus, stroke induces differentiation of new neurons into the phenotype of most of the neurons destroyed by the ischemic lesion. Here we show that the adult brain has the capacity for self-repair after insults causing extensive neuronal death. If the new neurons are functional and their formation can be stimulated, a novel therapeutic strategy might be developed for stroke in humans.

Long-distance neuronal migration in the adult mammalian brain

Abstract: During the development of the mammalian brain, neuronal precursors migrate to their final destination from their site of birth in the ventricular and subventricular zones (VZ and SVZ, respectively). SVZ cells in the walls of the lateral ventricle continue to proliferate in the brain of adult mice and can generate neurons in vitro, but their fate in vivo is unknown. Here SVZ cells from adult mice that carry a neuronal-specific transgene were grafted into the brain of adult recipients. In addition, the fate of endogenous SVZ cells was examined by microinjection of tritiated thymidine or a vital dye that labeled a discrete population of SVZ cells. Grafted and endogenous SVZ cells in the lateral ventricle of adult mice migrate long distances and differentiate into neurons in the olfactory bulb.