Activating resting neural stem cells may repair brain damage
"Neuroscience Trends"
2020.4
Neural stem cells (NSCs) are multipotent progenitor cells responsible for the production of all neurons and macroglia in the nervous system. In adult mammals, neural stem cells are mainly in a "dormant" state, but they can proliferate under the influence of environmental factors such as eating or exercise. People hope to repair human brain damage by activating resting neural stem cells. This requires understanding the heterogeneity and regulatory mechanisms of resting neural stem cells during normal physiological processes and after brain injury. To deeply understand these mechanisms, rodent models alone are difficult to obtain, and non-mammalian vertebrates (zebrafish and salamanders) and invertebrates (fruit flies) are needed for research. Researchers such as Leo Otsuki of the Vienna Biological Center in Austria reviewed the conceptual progress of these different models and comprehensively combed the possibility of using resting neural stem cells for treatment.