A “fountain of youth” that sustains the production of new neurons in the brains of rodents may also be present in the human brain, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found.
The existence of a vital support system of cells around stem cells in the brain explains why stem cells by themselves can’t generate neurons in a lab dish, a major roadblock in using these stem cells for injury repair.
The scientists found that neighboring “epithelial-like” ependymal cells — not stem cells themselves – maintain a special structure that keeps neural stem cells “neurogenic,” able to make new neurons. Currently, when neural stem cells are harvested for growth in culture, however, the ependymal cells are not removed along with them, and this can be a problem.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Researchers demystify a fountain of youth in the adult brain | KurzweilAI
