Isolation and expansion of self-renewing neural cells ex vivo are required for neural tissue repair in regenerative medicine. Neurogenesis occurs in restricted areas of postnatal mammalian brain including dentate gyrus and subventricular zone. We developed a simple method to entrap migrating neural cells (potential neuroprogenitors) from postnatal hippocampal organotypic cultures in three-dimen...

The neurosphere assay and the adherent monolayer culture system are valuable tools to determine the potential (proliferation or differentiation) of adult neural stem cells in vitro. These assays can be used to compare the precursor potential of cells isolated from genetically different or differentially treated animals to determine the effects of exogenous factors on neural precursor cell proli...

One of the challenges in treating central nervous system (CNS) disorders with biomolecules is achieving local delivery while minimizing invasiveness. For the treatment of stroke, stimulation of endogenous neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) by growth factors is a promising strategy for tissue regeneration. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) enhances proliferation of endogenous NSPCs in the subventr...

Cellular compartmentation was studied in the germinal matrices (the primary neuroepithelium and the subventricular zone) of the rat cerebral cortex at successive stages of embryonic development. Three sets of materials were used: methacrylate-embedded brain sections from normal embryos, autoradiograms from embryos labeled with [3H]thymidine, and methacrylate-embedded sections from embryos expos...

We examined the development of the occipital lobe in fetal monkeys between embryonic day 37 (E37) and E108 in Nissl-stained and acetylcholine esterase (AChE)-reacted sections. We paid particular attention to features that distinguish the development of presumptive area 17. At E46 the neuroepithelium consists of a ventricular zone and a monolayer cortical plate sandwiched between a thin marginal...

Recent studies have shown that neurogenesis is enhanced after hypoxia and that erythropoietin (EPO), an inducible cytokine, is produced in the brain as part of the intrinsic hypoxia response. Thus, we asked whether EPO might regulate neurogenesis by forebrain neural stem cells (NSCs). We found that EPO receptors are expressed in the embryonic germinal zone during neurogenesis as well as in the ...

Adult neurogenesis persists in the subventricular zone and is decreased in Parkinson disease (PD). The therapeutic potential of neurogenesis in PD requires understanding of mechanisms of 1) neural stem cell generation; 2) their guidance to the lesion site; and 3) the environment that enables neuronal differentiation, survival, and functional integration. We examined the combined intraventricula...