title: Endothelial cells stimulate self-renewal and expand neurogenesis of neural stem cells.
abstract: Neural stem cells are reported to lie in a vascular niche, but there is no direct evidence for a functional relationship between the stem cells and blood vessel component cells. We show that endothelial cells but not vascular smooth muscle cells release soluble factors that stimulate the self-renewal of neural stem cells, inhibit their differentiation, and enhance their neuron production. Both embryonic and adult neural stem cells respond, allowing extensive production of both projection neuron and interneuron types in vitro. Endothelial coculture stimulates neuroepithelial cell contact, activating Notch and Hes 1 to promote self-renewal. These findings identify endothelial cells as a critical component of the neural stem cell niche.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience, Albany Medical College, Albany, NY 12208, USA.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Susan K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Goderie
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Nithin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karanth
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abramova
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vincent
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pumiglia
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Temple
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D002417:Cattle; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002450:Cell Communication; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D002460:Cell Line; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000196:embryology; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000502:physiology; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2