In:
eLife, eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, Vol. 3 ( 2014-05-07)
Abstract:
Neurons that arise in the adult nervous system originate from neural stem cells and neural progenitor cells. Neural stem cells have long lives, much of which they spend in a quiescent state. Neural stem cells can also give rise to neural progenitor cells, which proliferate rapidly during their short lives and then ‘differentiate’ into neurons or glia. Unlike some other tissues, it has not been possible to identify or purify neural stem cells directly from the tissue. Consequently, neural stem and progenitor cells have usually been studied retrospectively, based on their ability to form colonies in laboratory cell cultures. A region of the brain called the subventricular zone contains both neural stem cells and neural progenitor cells, and is one of only two regions of the brain where neural stem cells are found in adult mammals. When cells from the subventricular zone are cultured in a way that allows the cells to freely float around (rather than growing on a surface), a few percent form spherical colonies called neurospheres. Since neurosphere-forming cells can self-renew and differentiate into neurons and glia, the ability of cells to form neurospheres has generally been taken as evidence that they are stem cells. However, the exact relationship between neural stem cells and neurosphere-forming cells has been uncertain. Now, Mich, Signer et al. have used a technique called flow cytometry to identify and isolate neural stem cells and neurosphere-forming cells directly from the subventricular zone. The neural stem cells, which Mich, Signer et al. term pre-GEPCOT cells (based on an acronym of the markers used to isolate the cells), were long-lived and quiescent, but they lacked the ability to form colonies in culture. The neurosphere-forming cells, named GEPCOT cells, were short-lived and highly proliferative in the brain. These results demonstrate that the cells that form neurospheres in culture are not stem cells at all, and that real stem cells are not able to form colonies under existing culture conditions. The identification of undifferentiated pre-GEPCOT and GEPCOT cells will make it possible to directly study the properties of these cells inside the mouse brain, and to isolate live cells to test how they function. The results also highlight the need for new tests to study neural stem cell function, given that current tests using neurospheres do not detect stem cells as commonly assumed.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2050-084X
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.001
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.002
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.003
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.004
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.005
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.006
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.007
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.008
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.009
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.010
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.011
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.012
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.013
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.014
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.015
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.016
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.02669.017
Language:
English
Publisher:
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Publication Date:
2014
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2687154-3
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