Neural stem cells help maintain their microenvironment: Study

Researchers in Japan have now thrown fresh light on the dynamics of the neural stem cell niche, the brains home for stem cells..

Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) explored the impact of hypoxic (low oxygen) circumstances on the brain stem cell niche during development in a recent study published in Inflammation and Regeneration..

The TMDU-led research team set out to investigate the effects of low oxygen conditions within the neural stem cell niche using a cell culture model of NSPCs isolated from the forebrains of embryonic mice..

This led us to explore what factors play a role in the maintenance and proliferation of NSPCs under hypoxic conditions.The researchers evaluated a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) as a potential candidate..

While other factors may also contribute to NSPC maintenance, these results shed new light on the composition of the neural stem cell niche during development and may serve as a foundation for further studies of self-organization of the hypoxic niche..