Inefficiency in primary neural stem cell transfection is a major obstacle in gene expression research aimed at determining the mechanisms underlying brain development. Following our initial finding that liposome-mediated transfection procedures are fairly toxic to neural stem cells, we further examined whether transfection efficiency could be improved by preventing cells from undergoing apoptos...

Propofol has previously been shown to have detrimental effects on the developing brain. Neural stem cells, identified in the embryonic brain as well as in the adult brain, are multipotent, self-renewing cells, which are capable of differentiating into different phenotypes of the nervous system. The present study was designed to investigate propofol-induced rat embryonic neural stem cell apoptos...

The transcription factor gene Sox2 is expressed in embryonic neural stem/progenitor cells and previous evidence suggests that it is also expressed in adult neural stem cells. To target Sox2-expressing neural stem/progenitor cells in a temporal manner, we generated a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenic mouse line, in which an inducible form of Cre, CreER™, is expressed under Sox2 re...

Representing a renewable source for cell replacement, neural stem cells have received substantial attention in recent years. The neurosphere assay represents a method to detect the presence of neural stem cells, however owing to a deficiency of specific and definitive markers to identify them, their quantification and the rate they expand is still indefinite. Here we propose a mathematical inte...

Neural precursors persist throughout life in the rodent forebrain subventricular zone (SVZ) and hippocampal dentate gyrus. The regulation of persistent neural stem cells is poorly understood, in part because of the lack of neural progenitor markers. The Sox B1 subfamily of HMG-box transcription factors (Sox1-3) is expressed by precursors in the embryonic nervous system, where these factors main...

Neural stem cells are present not only in the developing nervous systems, but also in the adult central nervous system of mammals, including humans. The mature central nervous system has been traditionally regarded as an unfavorable environment for the regeneration of damaged axons of mature neurons and the generation of new neurons. In the adult central nervous system, however, newly generated...

BACKGROUND Cell tracking is a powerful tool to understand cellular migration, dynamics, homing and function of stem cell transplants. Nanoparticles represent possible stem cell tracers, but they differ in cellular uptake and side effects. Their properties can be modified by coating with different biocompatible polymers. To test if a coating polymer, poly(L-lysine), can improve the biocompatibil...

Many of the regulatory mechanisms controlling neural stem cell behavior are proving to be conserved between organisms as diverse as worms and man. Common principles are emerging with respect to the regulation of neural stem cell division and the specification of distinct stem and progenitor cell types. Great progress has been made in recent years in identifying the cellular mechanisms underpinn...

Adult somatic stem cells in various organs maintain homeostatic tissue regeneration and enhance plasticity. Since its initial discovery five decades ago, investigations of adult neurogenesis and neural stem cells have led to an established and expanding field that has significantly influenced many facets of neuroscience, developmental biology, and regenerative medicine. Here we review recent pr...

During development, many neural stem cells "age" as they sequentially generate distinct neuronal or glial cell types. In this issue, Maurange et al. (2008) now identify the temporal control factors in Drosophila neural stem cells (neuroblasts) that regulate the fate of stem cell progeny and signal the end of stem cell proliferation.