Neural stem cells: progenitors or panacea?
Are neural stem cells (NSCs) maintained as totipotent precursors by the specialized environment within the stem cell niche or are they simply progenitors, which, while retaining their ability to proliferate, are parcellated and restricted along with their postmitotic brethren? In this review, we focus on what has been learned in recent years about endogenous populations of NSCs in the embryonic and adult brain. We compare the data garnered from in vitro analysis to what has been learned from the transplantation of NSCs into the developing, adult or lesioned brain.
Klein
Corinna
C
Developmental Genetics Program, The Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine and Department of Cell Biology, New York University Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Fishell
Gord
G
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000628:therapy; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*