An increasing body of evidence suggests that alterations in neurogenesis and oxidative stress are associated with a wide variety of CNS diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease, as well as routine loss of function accompanying aging. Interestingly, the association between neurogenesis and the production of reactive oxidative species (ROS) remains largely un...

Neural stem/precursor cells in the adult brain reside in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus. These cells primarily generate neuroblasts that normally migrate to the olfactory bulb (OB) and the dentate granule cell layer respectively. Following brain damage, such as traumatic brain injury, ischemic stroke...

Prominin-1 (CD133) is a commonly used cancer stem cell marker in central nervous system (CNS) tumors including glioblastoma (GBM). Expression of Prom1 in cancer is thought to parallel expression and function in normal stem cells. Using RNA in situ hybridization and antibody tools capable of detecting multiple isoforms of Prom1, we find evidence for two distinct Prom1 cell populations in mouse b...

In the adult mammalian brain, new neurons continue to be produced throughout life in two main regions in the brain, the subgranular zone (SGZ) in the hippocampus and the subventricular zone in the walls of the lateral ventricles. Neural stem cells (NSCs) proliferate in these niches, and migrate as neuroblasts, to further differentiate in locations where new neurons are needed, either in normal ...

In the course of one year in the United States approximately 80000 individuals will suffer strokes, over 10000 will have spinal cord injuries, over 200000 will experience traumatic brain injury and of the 60000 very low birth weight preterm infants born, 5000 will test in the mentally retarded range. The impacts of these injuries to the patients, their families, the health care system and socie...

Evidence has been accumulating that environmental chemicals contained in foods can cause neurodevelopmental disabilities. However, regular developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) studies require large numbers of animals for detection of subtle dose-response changes, and it is urgent concern to establish a rapid and efficient evaluation system of DNT. Evidence from our recent studies points to the not...

Allergies and their characteristic TH2-polarized inflammatory reactions affect a substantial part of the population. Since there is increasing evidence that the immune system modulates plasticity and function of the central nervous system (CNS), we investigated the effects of allergic lung inflammation on the hippocampus-a region of cellular plasticity in the adult brain. The focus of the prese...

Adult neurogenesis occurs most notably in the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampal dentate gyrus and in the olfactory bulb (OB) where new neurons are generated from neural progenitors cells produced in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the forebrain. As it is well known that gonadal steroid hormones, primarily estradiol, modulate neurogenesis in the hippocampus of adult female rodents, we w...

The brain continues to form new neurons throughout life. This process of adult neurogenesis has been thoroughly documented in several species including birds, rodents and humans. Adult neurogenesis is not a global process, but is confined to two subcompartments of the brain; the subventricular zone lining the lateral ventricles, and the subgranular zone (SGZ) in the hippocampal formation. A var...