Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have multilineage differentiation potential which includes cell lineages of the central nervous system; hence MSCs might be useful in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. Although mesenchymal stem cells have been shown to differentiate into the neural lineage, there is still little knowledge about the underlying mechanisms of dif...

Glial cell lineYderived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and its receptor GFR>1 have been implicated in the survival of ventral midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons, but the molecular mechanisms by which GDNF generates DA neurons in grafted midbrain-derived neural stem cells (mNSCs) are not understood. Midbrain-derived neural stem cells isolated from rat embryonic mesencephalon (embryonic day 12) were ...

The NR4A is a subfamily of the orphan nuclear receptors (NR) superfamily constituted by three well characterized members: Nur77 (NR4A1), Nurr1 (NR4A2) and Nor 1 (NR4A3). They are implicated in numerous biological processes as DNA repair, arteriosclerosis, cell apoptosis, carcinogenesis and metabolism. Several studies have demonstrated the role of this subfamily on glucose metabolism, insulin se...

OBJECTIVE To define distinctive features of nodular heterotopia in specimens derived from drug-resistant patients with epilepsy by evaluating mRNA expression of three different layer-specific markers: Rorbeta, Er81, and Nurr1. METHODS We analyzed the expression profile of these genes, recognized as markers mainly expressed in layer IV for Rorbeta, in layer V for Er81, and in layer VI for Nurr...

The present study investigates the association of mutations in the nuclear receptor NR4A2 in schizophrenic patients. The human Nur-related receptor 1, NR4A2, is an orphan nuclear receptor that can be constitutively active as a transcription factor and for which no natural ligand has yet been identified. Alone or with retinoid X receptor, RXR, NR4A2 influences the expression of several genes imp...

Dopaminergic (DA) neurons derived from bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) maybe a valuable source for cell replacement therapy in Parkinson disease. Recent studies showed that new functions of LXR and their ligands have been proposed to prevent PD in the adult nervous system. The present study was designed to observe the effect of liver X receptors (LXR) agonist on differentiati...

Abstract Introduction Mesodiencephalic dopamine neurons play crucial roles in the control of a variety of brain functions, including voluntary movement and behavioural processes such as mood, reward, and attention. Degeneration of mesodiencephalic dopaminergic neurons also represents one of the principal pathological features of Parkinson’s disease. Recent progress led to the identification of ...