Progress in stem cell research has been associated with the discovery of the presence of cancer stem cells in a variety of malignant tumors, and because these cells are resistant to anticancer agents and radiotherapy, analysis of their properties has been rapidly pursued as an important target for the treatment of cancers, including malignant brain tumors. Brain cancer stem cells (BCSCs) have b...

Brainstem gliomas occur in 10-20% of brain tumors in pediatrics. Over the past 3 decades, the treatment of brainstem gliomas has significantly progressed as a result of the gradual advancements in microsurgical techniques, sophisticated imaging technology and, most importantly, the availability of MRI. In this article, we review the current literature on brainstem gliomas and cover diagnosis, i...

Gliomas are primary cancers of the brain and the most lethal cancers known to man. In recent years the discovery of germinal regions in the postnatal brain containing neuronal stem and progenitor cell populations has led to the hypothesis that these cells may themselves serve as an origin of brain tumors. Stem cells that reside within the glioma tumor have been shown to display nonneoplastic st...

After traumatic brain injury (TBI), subcortical white matter damage may induce a functional disconnection leading to a dissociation of regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMRglc) between the cerebral cortex and deeper brain regions. Therefore, thalamic and brain stem CMRglc may have a closer correlation than does the cerebral cortex with depth of coma after TBI. Methods: Eleven adult h...

Here, we report that a unique mechanism of action exerted by stem cells in the repair of the traumatically injured brain involves their ability to harness a biobridge between neurogenic niche and injured brain site. This biobridge, visualized immunohistochemically and laser captured, corresponded to an area between the neurogenic subventricular zone and the injured cortex. That the biobridge ex...

Neural stem cells reside in two major niches in the adult brain [i.e., the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus]. Insults to the brain such as cerebral ischemia result in a physiological mobilization of endogenous neural stem cells. Since recent studies showed that pharmacological stimulation can be used to expand the endogenous neural stem cell niche, hope has bee...

Pathological conditions of the brain such as ischemia cause major sensorimotor and cognitive impairments. In novel therapeutic approaches to brain injury, stem cells have been applied to ameliorate the pathological outcome. In several experimental models, including hypoxia-ischemia and trauma, transplantation of stem cells correlated with an improved functional and structural outcome. At the ce...

introduction: behcet's disease is a chronic disease with multisystem involvement characterized clinically by oral and genital aphthae, cutaneous lesions and ophthalmologic, neurologic and gastrointestinal manifestation. nervous system involvement occurs in 5.3 – 30% of patients, mostly in brain stem and basal ganglia. the common manifestations are pyramidal signs, central nervous plegia, p...

The incidence of gliomas is on the increase, according to epidemiological data. This increase is a conundrum because the brain is in a privileged protected site behind the blood-brain barrier, and therefore partially buffered from environmental factors. In addition the brain also has a very low proliferative potential compared with other parts of the body. Recent advances in neural stem cell bi...